Barriers
by Kamo-gaki
Summary: Keitaro and Naru adjust to time apart as he prepares to hand over the Pararakelse dig to Artyom and she adjusts to her pregnancy. Meanwhile, Shinobu and Motoko work to mend damaged relationships. A sequel that starts immediately after "Forever and a Day." (Rated M for language)
1. Chapter 1

Preliminary Notes: This story is a sequel to my previous work, _Forever and a Day _(FAAD). If you haven't read that, some of the references and events happening here might not make sense. This story is based on the manga version of the story and (along with FAAD) takes place about a year after the marriage of Keitaro and Naru.

Chapter 1: _Homecoming_

The return of a couple to their home after a series of misadventures is often portrayed in anime and manga as happy music and waiting friends gathering around laughing and embracing as the credits roll. Then there was the reality.

Keitaro, smiling, carried Naru's luggage up the steps, wondering what sort of reception they might receive. Naru followed behind, trepidatiously, also wondering what sort of reception they might receive. They went up, five steps before they could see the landing. Four steps… three… two. Naru trembled slightly. _Just remember not to overreact if they're still mad_, she told herself. One step. They took the last step…

…to discover an annoyed Sara sweeping the walk under the supervision of an irate Haruka.

"You're sixteen now, dammit!" Haruka snapped. "If you don't want to go to college, then you better start thinking about what you're gonna do when you graduate. Because you're sure as hell not getting through life by being a NEEF."

"That's NEET!"

"I don't _care_ if you think it's 'neat.' You're not doing it!"

"Don't use slang when you don't know what it means! It makes you look like an old lady!"

"WHAT!?"

"Erm…" Naru sweatdropped, turning to Keitaro. "Should we wait and come back when there's no fighting going on?"

"If we wait for that, we might never get in." He patted her shoulder. "Should we go up?" He paused as he saw Naru cringe slightly and moved behind him. _Oh, right…_ he told himself. _Her last encounter with the others didn't end well_. In fact, it led to her running to Nagasaki. "Well, I don't want to make decisions without you. So if you have any worries here, I want to work with you, not to try to solve them for you."

Naru sighed. "I can't keep running away from my fears. I need to face the others. I'm just afraid because I keep imagining worst case scenarios."

Keitaro nodded. "I see. I hope it won't come to that. When I left to go after you, they were worried about you, after all. But if it does, they'll answer to me. So you should be safe."

Naru hugged him. "Shall we go then?" She had a determined expression.

"Let's." Keitaro smiled, but noticed she remained a step behind him. He decided not to push it. _Hopefully, she'll soon see things are safe_. He strode up the final steps, prepared to greet Haruka and Sara. Suddenly a massive shape loomed in front of them.

"UNIDENTIFIED INTRUDERS ON PREMISES. IDENTIFY YOURSELVES. YOU HAVE 20 SECONDS TO COMPLY," the Mechatama intoned.

Keitaro and Naru shared a startled look. "What…?" Naru gasped.

"IDENTITY YOURSELVES. YOU NOW HAVE 15 SECONDS TO COMPLY."

"Umm… Keitaro and Naru Urashima." Keitaro said, hesitantly.

Haruka stepped forward. "Su! What the hell are you doing?" Behind her, Sara dove for cover.

"YOU NOW HAVE 10 SECONDS TO COMPLY." Missile pods dropped from the Mechatama. Laser sights targeted their foreheads.

"Keitaro and Naru!" Keitaro said, frantically.

Klaxons began to sound. "YOU NOW HAVE FIVE SECONDS TO COMPLY… FOUR… THREE…"

Keitaro moved to shield Naru. "Run! Save yourself and the baby."

If she wasn't having a baby, she would have stayed. But he was right. There was another life to worry about. Unfortunately, her foot slipped and she sat down on the step, hard. She grunted in pain, struggling to get back to her feet. But she realized it was too late. "I love you Keitaro!" Naru whispered.

"TWO…"

"I love you too." He put his hand on her abdomen. "I love our baby too."

"ONE…"

There was a blur as a human size object crashed into the Mechatama, knocking it over and shorting it out. That was followed by the rest of the Hinata girls rushing out.

"Thank you, Motoko," Mutsumi said as Motoko bowed and brushed her hands off. Turning to the pile of broken robot, Mutsumi said, exasperated, "Su? What did I ask you about using Mechatama near Naru?"

Su poked her head out from under the pile and, looking like a student caught unprepared for a pop quiz, pondered for a moment. "Umm, not to?"

Mutsumi sighed. "So why did you use Mechatama?"

Su smiled. "To keep Naru-yan safe!"

Mutsumi nodded. "Haruka-san?" She gestured to Su.

Haruka strode over and smacked Su with the harisen. "How in the hell was _that_ safe?"

Mutsumi hurried over to Naru and checked her over for injuries. "Are you hurt?" She saw no injuries on Naru and knew that at this stage, the uterus was still safely behind the pelvic bone so the likelihood of injury to the baby was small. But if the girls didn't learn to stop fooling around, Naru could get hit hard enough to cause a miscarriage when she was further along.

"No, just my rear end is sore."

"Wow, Kitsune smirked. You two must have been busy last night!"

Haruka smacked her with the harisen too. "Knock it off! There are minors and Shinobu here!"

"Hey!" Shinobu protested, bright red.

Turning back to Keitaro and Naru, Haruka smiled. "Welcome home. I'm glad to see you two came back together."

Keitaro beamed and Naru smiled shyly, seeing the smiles, grateful that they didn't seem angry with her. She nervously cleared her throat. "Everyone, I think I need to say I'm-"

"Welcome back!" everybody shouted, catching the couple in a group hug.

Almost everyone. As the chaos subsided, Naru noticed the absence of two. Looking up, she saw Motoko and Shinobu standing aside, looking down, shifting their feet with discomfort. She sighed. On one hand, she was still somewhat annoyed that they had pursued her husband. On the other… that story she heard at the Nagasaki church about forgiving the lesser debt stuck in her mind. _Well, I did slap Shinobu and insult Motoko. I should tell them I'm sorry_. Cautiously, she walked over and bowed. "Motoko, Shinobu, I- I'm…"

Motoko and Shinobu simultaneously dropped to their knees, placing their hands in front of them, and touched their heads to the ground. "Urashima Naru-sama," Motoko said, "what we have done was shameful. We do not deserve forgiveness, but we are so sorry!"

"I'm s-so s-sorry, Naru-senpai," Shinobu sobbed, unable to match Motoko's eloquence.

_Dogeza_? Naru was shocked, and slightly appalled. _I don't want my friends to humiliate themselves like this!_ Gently she knelt down to them and, forgetting her own hurts, embraced them, hoping this wouldn't violate some part of Motoko's samurai code. "Hey, Hey… Shinobu-chan, Motoko-chan… please. You don't need to do this. We all did things this past week that we're ashamed of. I'm sorry for what I did. But you're still my friends, and I want us to stay that way. Can we all forgive each other?"

They stared at her, bewildered.

"R-Really?" Shinobu asked hopefully, relief in her voice. "Do you really mean it?"

"Of course, Shinobu! I'm so sorry I slapped you. Motoko, I'm sorry I insulted you. We were friends for so long. I don't want it to be wrecked by what I did to you."

_What _you _did to us_? Motoko thought. _What about what I did to you? I could never forgive you if you did that to me! I have no right to accept your forgiveness._ The realization that she treated a friend like an enemy and pursued a married man ate at her. She remained into the _dogeza_ position, whispering, "_Makotoni moushiwake gozaimasen deshita_, Urashima-sama."

Naru sweatdropped. She was not of any samurai lineage and didn't know of any special formulas to use in forgiving her if the ones she was taught growing up weren't going to cut it. She also recalled a couple of times when Motoko offered to commit _seppuku_ in overreacting. She was an adult now, but still…. So, feeling like she was defusing a bomb, Naru put her arm around Motoko and gently whispered, "It is all right, please don't worry Motoko-chan."

Motoko sighed. _If I don't respond to her, she'll become upset. I can't have that_. Slowly, she raised her head. "Thank you, Urashima-sama. I don't deserve it." _I know you mean it, but I can't forgive myself_.

Before Naru could say any more, the mob swept them up into more group hugs. Keitaro pushed his way through to shield her from getting knocked over in the chaos.

"Is everything all right between you?" he asked, concerned.

"I think so," she said, smiling. _I hope so, anyway_. Motoko was hard to read when she was acting stoic.

Keitaro smiled. "That's a relief," he said, putting his arm around her waist.

Haruka clapped her hands for attention. "These two have had a long trip. Let's give them a little time to rest and refresh themselves before we swamp them with questions."

Keitaro shrugged. "Actually I'm doing pretty w-" he stopped as Naru stepped on his foot.

"I thought we should finish what we started in the hot springs the night before last," she whispered.

"Ah," Keitaro said, shifting his stance. "I guess I could stand to get cleaned up. It has been a long time… Er, since we started the trip."

Naru began pulling him to the dorms, then stopped. "Oh, Kitsune? About that thing you got for me at the tea house?"

"I packed it in your suitcase when we moved Keitaro's things up to your room," she said with a smirk.

"Thing?" Keitaro asked as Naru dragged him to the stairs.

"You'll see," Naru promised.

**Next Chapter:** You Have to Have a Plan

**Author Notes**:

_Forever and a Day_ (FAAD) was completed before I began publishing chapters here. _Barriers _is more of a work in progress. Part of it will deal with issues I decided to remove from FAAD to prevent it from becoming overlong (some of you were asking "what about X?" I do have ideas and plans). Other parts will involve "what happens next." While Keitaro and Naru have begun the road of healing their relationship, the rest of the residents still have issues to work out.

Mutsumi is finishing her degree in medicine. But I have no such training. Please do not use my Googling of medical information in the place of a real doctor.

"There are minors and Shinobu here!": If this was done in Japanese, I'd probably have her say "There are Shoujo and Shojo here." But Japanese puns are hard.

I interpret Shinobu's character as being relieved and grateful with Naru wanting to let things go. I think Motoko would have a harder time letting go of feeling she acted dishonorably. As an adult, I think she'd stop offering to commit _seppuku_ at the drop of a hat, but she'd still be a bit overboard in response.

I hope nobody thinks I'm "Motoko bashing." I'm just trying to get across how seriously she takes her remorse.

Motoko's apology roughly translates as "There were no excuses for my actions, I am totally responsible for what I have done and am sincerely apologetic."

"Urashima-sama." -_sama_ implies a higher status of the addressee. Motoko is A) acknowledging that Naru is undisputedly Keitaro's wife and B) is humbling herself in her address.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: _You Have to Have a Plan_

**Preliminary Note**: _Barriers _is a sequel to my previous work _Forever and a Day_. It assumes that you read it. If you haven't, several references won't make sense.

Shinobu walked back to the kitchen in a bit of a daze. After all of the angry words and accusations that happened between them over the last few days, Naru apologized to _her_ and forgave her ungrudgingly. And then there was the fact that Naru was having Senpai's baby. It was a lot to adjust to, and she wasn't sure how well she would adjust.

_I just won't think about it now,_ she told herself. Reaching the kitchen, she began pulling out ingredients. Now that they were home, it was time to start preparing for the "Welcome Back" meal.

Haruka walked in, a surly Sara in tow. "I told the others to start setting up. Mutsumi is making sure they don't do anything dangerous. We'll give you a hand here for now."

Shinobu smiled, gratefully. "Thanks. I just want to let them know we're happy they're back—and back together."

"So, what are your plans now?"

"My plans?" She brought her index finger to her chin and thought. "Well, I took care of the vegetables this morning. So first I need to start the rice cooker, then start heating the broth, then-"

Haruka shook her head. "Not what I meant, Shinobu. I mean you have to have a plan now that Keitaro and Naru have settled things between them. If you don't have one, you'll either drift or fall back to your old dreams."

"Is that some kind of subtle message for me?" Sara growled from where she was sorting plates. "I keep telling you and Papa that I don't know what I want to do yet."

"No," Haruka snapped. "But you should listen too!" She winced at her tone. Mutsumi had made it clear that the smokers needed to quit or smoke elsewhere than Hinata House. "Sorry. Nicotine jitters." Turning back to Shinobu, she said, "there's no need to bring up the past of course. I just think you need to look forward. You're a junior in Todai now. That shows you're smart and talented. But things in life will change."

Shinobu looked down at her feet, remembering back when Naru asked her why she wanted to try for Todai as a first year in high school. "You're right. All these years of preparing for Todai were probably inspired by wanting Senpai to be proud of me, wanting to be the _Okami _of Hinata House—but I know now that's something only Naru has a right to." She pondered that. "I guess everything I did was to try to win him. I guess it was all just a fantasy."

"You're not thinking of giving up, are you? Whatever your motivation was originally, you are succeeding with something on your own. But if you don't plan, if you just drift, you might find yourself stuck in a life you're not happy with. I don't want to see that happen to you."

"I guess I never thought about my life outside of being here, with all of us. Even after Grandma Hina had her heart attack and I realized things were changing, I thought more about what we would lose than what I wanted to do."

"Yeah, we have a sheltered little world here. But even if things do change, we don't have to fall out of touch. We don't have to cut ties. But we do need to be prepared for whatever life sends our way."

Motoko sat in the _seiza _position on the roof next to a charcoal brazier, a _tanto _in front of her. Behind her stood Tsuruko, dressed to travel, hand on the hilt of her _katana_.

"Motoko, are you sure it has to be this way?" she asked unhappily. "I'm the one who got you into this. You don't need to take things this far out of honor."

"Yes, I do. Even though you misunderstood things, I was the one who pursued a married man and treated my friends as enemies. I can't stay here as if nothing happened, no matter what Naru said."

Tsuruko brushed a tear away. "But Motoko, you've accomplished so much with your life. You're going to throw it away?"

"Please, Ane-ue, don't make this more difficult than it has to be. If I don't do this now, I won't be able to face myself tomorrow." She handed Tsuruko a small scroll in a black lacquered case. "Please give this to them before you leave."

Tsuruko took it. "I wish you wouldn't do this. But I cannot interfere with your honor. So I will do this," she said hoarsely. "And then I will make the… arrangements for you when you're… gone from this place." She stifled a sob and slowly walked away.

Motoko sighed. Then picked up her recently finished bound manuscript _Mounting Blue Peak_, her latest romance novel, and studied it for a moment, feeling ashamed. _All my romance novels were just an excuse for adulterous fantasies. Enough of this!_

Then, opening the manuscript, she set it down in front of her. She unsheathed her _tanto_, readied it, and, gritting her teeth, thrust deeply and cut twice, up and to the side.

Then, setting the _tanto_ back down next to her, she picked up the pieces of the slashed pages she had cut from the binding, and began feeding them into the fire, a few at a time. She had to hurry, but this needed to be done properly before returning to Kyoto.

Keitaro and Naru lay in bed, her arm over his chest as she lay on her side facing him, he, laying on his back staring at the ceiling wondering where Naru had gotten Sailor Moon lingerie from, and how they were going to get it out of the rafters of the room. They knew they should be getting dressed soon, before the fiction of "getting cleaned up" became too obvious—but they could wait a few more minutes.

"So, you're sure you want to do this, Keitaro? The baby and will both be happy to have you with us in Japan. But archaeology is your passion and part of the reason I held things back instead of talking about them was I was afraid you'd feel pressured to give up your dream for me. I didn't want that."

Keitaro rolled over on his side to face her. "If you had done that when we were on Pararakelse, I might have felt that way," he admitted. "But this past week in Japan taught me some things. What good is rushing to become a famous archaeologist if it costs us our marriage?"

He ran his hand down her flank, eliciting a contented sigh from his wife. "And what good is it to be continually promoted if I'm not trained to do what I'm promoted to?" he continued . "When Toma and Seta suggested I try to leverage my findings to get an advanced degree, it seemed like a good idea."

Putting his hand on her abdomen, he continued, "And since you can't take the required MMR vaccination to go back to Pararakelse, this also means I get to be here for you and be here when the baby is born."

"I'd like that," she said, kissing him.

"I'd like that too." Keitaro moved the hand on her abdomen upwards, and the hand on her flank downwards. "While we're here," he said with an impish grin, "there's something else I'd like…." He pulled her closer.

"Again? You perverted kappa!" Her giggle ruined any pretense of being serious. "We have to get dressed. Everybody is waiting for us!"

"A few more minutes won't make a difference."

Naru's kissed him passionately. "Okay. _One_ more time!"

**Author's Notes:**

"when Naru asked her why she wanted to try for Todai as a first year in high school." See chapter 101 of the manga.

_Okami_: Manager of an inn. Usually the wife of the owner.

"…before returning to Kyoto." I didn't expect people to read into Motoko's remorse in FAAD (_Forever and a Day_) as preparing to commit _seppuku_, but since some readers did interpret it that way, I couldn't resist writing the scene to mess with them.

"The baby and I will both be happy…" If you're confused, you obviously didn't read FAAD, so get to it!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: _Dammit! Not Again!_

_**Preliminary Notes**_: This is the "director's cut" with the deleted scene restored.

Keitaro and Naru arrived at the landing between the dorms and Kitsune's tea room, looking a bit too hastily dressed for having "gotten cleaned up." The younger residents blushed at that, but Kitsune just shrugged. After being separated for a month, they were probably making up for lost time.

"Hey you two!" she said, holding up a bottle. "I have a bottle of top shelf for you to try…"

Mutsumi gestured to Haruka, who promptly smacked Kitsune with a harisen.

"…after you have the baby!" she continued without skipping a beat.

"So," Keitaro, Naru…" Haruka said, easing back into a chair. "I've heard second hand about your big news. But I want to hear it direct from you." She pulled out a cigarette and lighter.

There was a loud FWOOSH as a Mechatama swooped down. "POTENTIAL IGNITION OF TOBACCO OBJECT DETECTED. TARGETING…." It fired a large blob of foam that narrowly missed Naru and knocked Haruka over, burying her. "TOBACCO OBJECT ELIMINATED." With another FWOOSH, the Mechatama rocketed away.

There was a muffled "Su…" from the bottom of the pile of foam.

Su grinned. "My 'protect the baby from second hand smoke' invention worked perfectly!"

"I'd hate to see a failure then," Ema muttered.

"Err…," Naru said, sweatdropping as she realized how close the blob had come to hitting her. "Well, the Doctor said I am a month along. So, I guess we can expect it in late March or early April."

"Do you know whether it's a boy or a girl?" Shinobu asked eagerly.

Naru smiled. "I asked the doctor the same question. She told me that they can't do that until I'm at 20 weeks. But I guess in a few weeks the doctor will be able to detect a heartbeat."

"A month along, eh?" Kitsune mused. "I guess things were kind of slow in June for ya."

"Well the Pararakelse schools close for three months beginning in June so-" She stopped and glared at Kitsune, finally catching the innuendo.

Sighing, Mutsumi began taking bandages out of the first aid kit.

"Anyway, it was a big surprise. I was afraid I was sick. And I felt awful when I got so emotional with you. But I guess it was obvious to other people." She gave Mutsumi a sly smile.

"Ara, Nacchan," Mutsumi said, concern in her voice. "I hope you can understand why I couldn't tell you before."

"It's okay. Dr. Juse explained it to me. She said it would be malpractice if you had. I guess once I found out I just wished we could have shared the secret."

"Yes, I heard about that. But-" Mutsumi hugged her. "I'm just _so_ happy for you! I have so many names to suggest!"

Naru sweatdropped.

The other girls swarmed Naru, saying how happy they were, asking to know how they could help. Naru smiled, glad that the others were sharing in her joy. Ema, Sara, Shinobu, Su, Kanako, Kitsune, Mutsumi, Haruka, Mo….

"Where is Motoko?" she asked, suddenly concerned.

Silence. Everyone looked around, puzzled.

Haruka looked up from wiping foam from her hair. "She was supposed to light the mosquito coils, and then come help Shinobu and me with the food preparation. But we got to talking and I never noticed she didn't come back. I wonder what happened…."

"Oh no!" Naru whispered. "When I forgave her, she said that what she did was unforgivable. But I didn't think she meant that _literally_! We better find her!"

They rushed for the stairs for the roof.

"Dammit! Not again!" Shinobu growled. "This is like being stuck in a manga where the author has only one trick to cause tension!"

.

.

Reaching the top of the stairs, they saw a familiar silhouette of a long haired woman dressed in her hakama and uwagi; sword on her back, bird on her shoulder.

"Motoko!" Naru said relieved. "We were worried about you."

The figure turned, and they could see that the bird was not the white feathered Shippu, but the purple feathered Hayate. It wasn't Motoko. It was Tsuruko.

Tsuruko wiped a tear from her eye. "Motoko is no longer… among us," she said softly. "I have handled the, ah, necessary arrangements." She drew a black lacquered scroll case from her uwagi. "She left this for you to explain why." She handed it to Su, who was closest. "For whatever it's worth, I am sorry for the part I played in this."

Then with a bound, she leapt off of the roof, and began jumping from tree to tree, bells jingling, but a noticeable lack of her signature laugh.

Keitaro warily scanned the roof for what he feared, planning to shield the others. But there were just ashes in a brazier and a couple of scraps of paper.

Su began fidgeting with the case, trying to open it. With an irritated hiss, Kitsune grabbed it and unrolled it. She cleared her throat and began to read.

"_Naru Urashima-sama._

_By the time you receive this, I will have committed-"_

There was a cacophony of gasps as the others looked at each other with horror.

"My friend… my friend…" Shinobu whispered. She tried to be brave, but she couldn't stop the tears.

"At least let me finish the frigging sentence!" Kitsune snapped. "Ahem…"

"_By the time you receive this_, _I will have committed myself to the life of the sword."_

Everybody facefaulted.

"_I appreciate your forgiveness, but there are some things I have always held to be unforgivable. I am guilty of those things and I cannot accept your forgiveness. So I must remove myself from your presence. I have left the Hina Blade here. It belongs to the House of Urashima and I am no longer worthy to bear it._

"_Thank you for your kindness over the years. I hope you, your husband, and your child will have a happy life together."_

"Umm, I think that's her seal, but it looks like it got wet. I'm guessing she was crying when she wrote this." Kitsune rolled up the scroll and handed it to Naru, who took it without thinking.

"It's my fault," Naru said, miserably. "If I hadn't acted like a bitch to her before I ran away and if I had told her more strongly that I forgave her, this wouldn't have happened!"

"No." Shinobu said softly. "Don't blame yourself! This isn't about what you think you should have known. Motoko has always done stuff like this when she thinks she's done something shameful. Remember the times she attempted Seppuku, the time she ran off to train? The time she declared she'd become a nun? She acts serious, so we forget she does stupid things just like the rest of us. So we have to help her, just like we help everyone else."

"Then we better get after her!" Keitaro yelled, jumping to his feet and racing to the stairs.

Kanako hit him in the back of the head with a thrown mosquito coil. "Dammit, Oniichan! Go where? Until we find a clue, she could be anywhere in Japan!" She sighed. "We could try her room. Ema! Shinobu! Call her cell and her home in Kyoto. They might refuse to answer, but it's worth a shot."

"They're getting better at this," Haruka observed.

"Ehh, they have a lot of practice by now," Sara replied.

"This is true," Haruka nodded.

"Whatever happened to Seta?" Kitsune asked, suddenly remembering.

"He took off this morning after he found a message from Keitaro on his phone. I assumed he was going to pick them up, but they got back here ten minutes after he left." She shrugged. "I'm married to him and I can't always figure him out."

.

.

Motoko's room was filled with boxes neatly packed, with her name on each one. Even the trash was emptied. A black katana rested on a stand in the corner—the Hina Blade, a piece of paper next to it reading _Please leave this here._

"Don't touch the blade!" Keitaro warned, not wanting to add demonic blade possession to their problems.

"No address," Kanako muttered, her eyes sweeping everything. "And everything packed away eliminates clues. This isn't like when Naru left."

Naru shifted uneasily.

"D'ya think she's planning on coming back for it?" Su asked.

"I doubt it. What would be the point of leaving in this way then?"

"Because you're all dorks and never do the smart thing?" Sara cackled.

Everyone glared at her.

"Don't you have summer homework?" Haruka growled. _She's really getting out of line here_.

"Maybe she's just going home to Kyoto?" Ema asked, entering the room. "Motoko's phone is turned off. It just goes straight to voicemail. I left a message asking her to call us back."

"I bet you're right," Naru said.

"About the phone?" Kitsune asked.

"Can't you be serious?" Naru snapped. She immediately became apologetic. "Sorry. Not sure if it's my hormones or my nerves making me edgy." She massaged her knuckles.

"S'alright," Kitsune said. "No harm done."

Mutsumi sighed and got out bandages.

"Anyway," Naru said with a _no more riffing_ look, "if she's going to live her life by the sword, it makes sense she's going home."

"Unless she tries that _yamabushi _training in the mountains like she did a few years back when she ran away," Haruka chipped in.

.

.

Shinobu listened to the phone ring and ring. _Dammit Motoko! I thought you said we were going to always stand together as friends, come what may! How could you run off now_? She was jolted back to the here and now by a voice.

"Hello, who is this?" It was a gruff male voice.

"Ah, Hello sir. My name is Shinobu Maehara. I am trying to find Motoko Aoyama. Is she here?"

"Moto? No, no. She's in Hinata City, staying at some house. Dear, what's the name of the house Moto's stayin' in?"

Shinobu thought the voice sounded a bit slurred.

"Hinata House!" a matronly voice called out.

"Oh, right. Like the city. She's in Hinata House."

"Umm, no. I'm calling from Hinata House. I'm trying to find Motoko…" Shinobu said, suspecting she had the worst timing for her call.

"That's right, she's at Hinata house… city… thing. Dear, can you get me another beer?"

"Another one? Why don't you go practice with the sword?"

"Can't. Government'll complain about risking a cultural site. Damn government. We shoulda elected Ishihara. He had the right ideas!"

"Ugh, you're impossible when you're like this!" The matronly voice snapped. "Get off the phone!"

Shinobu hung up blushing, feeling like she was intruding on something Motoko would prefer to keep hidden.

"Any news?" Naru asked, coming down the stairs. Her expression was a mixture of hope and worry, and some urgency.

"No. I guess Motoko either isn't there or isn't there yet. I talked to some man who thought she was here." Shinobu hesitated. "He sounded err… drunk." She blushed slightly. It kind of felt like violating her family privacy to mention it, but she decided to not hide anything from Naru.

"I wish she would call," Naru sighed. "I _want_ her to come back. I hoped the three of us could put this behind us."

"Me too," Shinobu nodded. "Do you think there's any hope she will come back?"

"I don't know, but I hope so. I hope she's not like me. If Keitaro hadn't come after me, I would have been too ashamed to come home and face him. I probably would have left forever, never knowing you all wanted me back. It was only after he found me that I had the courage to come back to face the rest of you." She gave Shinobu a shy glance. "I'm so grateful you forgave me." _You do forgive me, right?_

Shinobu embraced her. "Thank you for forgiving me too. I was afraid I ruined everything."

An odd strained expression came over Naru's face.

_Did I offend her again_? Shinobu worried.

Naru began shifting from foot to foot. "Excuse me," she said, making a beeline for the bathroom. After a few minutes, she returned. "Sorry about that," she said, embarrassed. "I guess I'm going to build up my leg muscles going up and down the stairs for the next eight months."

Shinobu looked at the door to the Manager's room where she was staying.

.

.

Upstairs in 302, they conceded defeat. There were no clues to where Motoko might have gone. "I guess we'll just hafta wait until she calls or sends somebody to get her stuff," Kitsune said glumly.

Sighing and grumbling, they began to file out. Suddenly, Keitaro's phone rang. _Motoko?_ he thought, hopefully. "H-hello?"

"Hey, Part timer!" Seta's voice came over the line. "Are you and Naru still in Tokyo?"

"Ah, no. We got back to Hinata House a couple hours ago. Why?"

"I just got out of a meeting with Harada. He wants to meet with you before Lamba Lu heads back to Pararakelse. The sooner the better."

"What? Am I in some sort of trouble here?"

"Oh no, not at all. This might benefit what Artyom was suggesting for you about graduate studies. Are you still interested?"

"Yes, that's great." He paused, remembering the current crisis. "This is a long shot, but have you seen Motoko? Has she contacted you?"

"Aoyama? No, not since I left this morning."

"I was afraid of that. Yeah, go ahead and set it up. I'll let Naru know so it doesn't take her by surprise."

.

.

Time was strange, Shinobu thought. Trivial stuff that you couldn't keep track of ended up eating up huge chunks of time. Major events happened and, when you looked at your watch, only a few minutes passed by. This was a case of the latter. So much had happened since Keitaro and Naru returned home, but only an hour and a half had gone by. Unfortunately, it was well past the optimum time to serve the meal.

Now that the realization that they couldn't do anything had sunk in, they were unenthusiastically chewing on the now overcooked rice and meat. Well, most of them were unenthusiastic. Naru was attacking it like she was starving.

"This is so good, Shinobu," she mumbled as she shoveled it in.

"Err, thanks… I think," Shinobu said. She turned back to Keitaro's describing his phone call, wondering what other pregnancy based strangeness Naru would display.

"So, wait," Haruka said. "You told my husband to just set up an appointment without setting any parameters? You should know by now that's going to come back to bite you in the ass."

"I think you're exaggerating Aun-"

Haruka made a fist and gave him a wry smile.

"Err… Haruka-san. Seta can be pretty focused when it comes to archaeology you know."

"And setting up a meeting isn't archaeology." Haruka pulled a bill out of her pocket. "¥1000 says you end up regretting this."

"Done," Keitaro said. "This should teach you to put more faith in him."

"So, I hope you don't need that money, dork" Su cackled, looking at Keitaro.

Suddenly there was a deep rumbling sound down by the steps leading to the road. It sounded like a large truck.

"What the hell's that?" Kanako asked. "We're not expecting any deliveries, are we?"

Shinobu thought for a minute. "I'm not expecting any supplies for Hinata House before Friday."

Naru looked up from her fourth helping. "That sounds like a…." She leapt to her feet. "Oh, no. I thought we'd have more time!" She began running for the stairs.

The girls stared at Keitaro, who shrugged. Then they took off in pursuit. They were 90% sure Naru wasn't running off again, but you never knew.

Reaching the bottom of the steps, they saw a shipping van. Two men got out.

"We're here to pick up the belongings of Motoko Aoyama," the older man said. "If you want to show us where they are, we'll get started."

Shinobu turned to Keitaro and Naru. "Senpais! Can't you do something?" She pleaded.

There was a sudden screech of tires as a battered van raced down the road. Even though there was plenty of space, Seta skillfully managed to make a last second stop, barely missing the truck.

"Part timer!" he yelled. "We'll be meeting Harada and Lamba Lu for dinner in Tokyo. We need to get rolling now!"

Haruka rolled her eyes and held out her hand to Keitaro. "Pay up."

.

.

**Author's Notes **

I've been without internet for three weeks. Sorry for the delay (or, sorry for publishing this—depends on what you think of my writing).

"I guess things were kind of slow in June." The story (and FAAD) takes place in July, 2006.

"Dammit! Not Again!" Ever notice how often Akamatsu used the "somebody runs away" plot device? I love the manga, but sometimes I like to give Akamatsu a hard time.

"Motoko has always done stuff like this." When you think about it, nobody in the cast has any impulse control and they never do the rational thing.

"The Hina Blade." As an example of how I have a tendency to 'go dark,' I considered having Naru pick it up and having the blade possess the baby in the sense of the unresolved tension of Mollari's gift in the final season of _Babylon 5_. I rejected the idea of course. But it's the kind of direction I tend to go if I'm not careful.

"Mutsumi sighed…" While Naru spectacularly beats up Keitaro, Akamatsu has set up a Tsukomi/Boke comedy duo with Naru/Kitsune too. We see Kitsune interrupt to say something out of line, Naru continuing to talk, holding a hammer while Kitsune is bandaged and lumps on her head. This is how I try to capture that.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: _You Need To Do That, I Have To Do This_

**Preliminary Note:** _Barriers _is a sequel to _Forever and a Day_ (FAAD), and assumes you've read it already.

The Hinata residents looked at Seta, then at the movers helplessly. The movers and Seta looked at the Hinata residents, then at each other and shrugged.

"So, anyway, we need to move these boxes," the elder mover said, trying to move things along.

"No, you can't!" Shinobu wailed. _If they take her stuff, there's no way we can get her to come back!_

"Whaddya mean, 'no'?" The younger mover growled. "You just can't hold on to somebody's property, missy."

Naru stepped forward. "You can't because—err," she hesitated, trying to think up a plausible excuse. "Well—because she owes four months back rent, and we're not letting her sneak her things out until she pays it in full!"

"Ah, Hell," the older mover growled. "Why do we always get the deadbeats?"

"What, can they do that?" the younger asked, pulling out a cigarette. He hoped this got resolved soon.

Kitsune and Haruka's eyes lit up.

Mutsumi grabbed a hose and, turning the tap to full blast, directed the sprayer at his cigarette, ready to squeeze. "Ara! Please don't smoke near pregnant women!"

"What the hell, lady?" the younger mover demanded, hastily putting his cigarette away.

"This must be the house the other crews were talking about, the one with the violent crazy women." The elder man said. The two began edging back to the truck. "Yeah, unfortunately they _can_ hold her stuff." He sighed. "We're not going to be on the road until tomorrow morning anyway. We can call the woman's address tonight, let them know the problem, and come back first thing tomorrow." He glared at them. "If the stuff isn't ready, we can come back again with with the police."

Naru gave them a glare she usually reserved for when Keitaro did something perverted. "I'm the manager's wife. Before you go, I want to know the contact information. She's not leaving us high and dry and I have a right to that, Er… deadbeat's location!" _I hope this doesn't get back to Motoko._

"Okay, okay, just back off lady," The older man growled. He pulled an invoice out of his shirt pocket and thrust it at her.

Naru looked at it, nodded and handed it back. "Okay, we're going to contact her ourselves this afternoon. If necessary, we'll contact a lawyer." Her tone softened. "Sorry for snapping at you like that. It's just…," she gestured to her maternity mark. "What time will you be back?"

The tactic seemed to work. "Well," the older man sighed, "Will 8am work? It's going to be a long drive." He smiled slightly. "It's okay… my youngest daughter is expecting her first. I know it's sometimes rough for her too."

Smiling, Naru drew Keitaro over to Seta's van. "We have to plan—fast," she hissed.

"Problem, Part timer?" Seta asked with concern. "Glad to see you back, by the way, Naru."

"Seta, I know I told you to set things up, but I didn't expect you to set it up so soon. This is going to be an emergency. Is it possible to reschedule?"

"That's going to be difficult," Seta began, using the Japanese euphemism for _impossible_. "Lu's going to fly to Molmol on a redeye flight. It's now or never. Sorry."

"Dammit," Keitaro muttered. "I can't abandon a friend. I-" he stopped as Naru touched her finger to his lips.

Naru shook her head. "Don't reschedule. This is for setting up our future. But we can work as a team. You're not being selfish. You need to do that. I need to do this. Motoko ran away because of her issues with me. I think I need to be the one to bring her back, just like you needed to be the one to bring me back." She smiled.

Turning to Seta, she said, "Can you drop me off at the train station on the way to your meeting?"

"I guess so," Seta shrugged, still trying to catch up.

"You have a plan?" Keitaro asked, relieved to be in a plot _with_ Naru instead of a plot _for_ her.

"Yeah, I need to get to Kyoto _fast_. It's going to her school. That means Motoko's probably screening her calls and won't pick up for us. But if they call her, she'll answer, and if she tells them she doesn't owe back rent, they could call the police on us. I just need to get my JR pass _and_ my phone charger this time. Then we can go."

"Got it. If you need to take a Nozomi, don't worry. Just do it. Err-" He broke off, wondering if Naru would misconstrue it. "I mean…."

"I know what you mean. I want her back quickly too." Naru smiled. "Don't worry."

Shinobu looked around, but the movers were busy putting their supplies in the back of the truck. "What do we do if they come back with the police?" She whispered.

"Well, If you can't stall them, just let them take the stuff. It means I failed. We don't want to have to bail everyone out for more _Hinata Liberation Front_ stunts."

Sighing, Su put away a rocket launcher. "Dammit."

"Okay, let's go!" Keitaro started clearing space for Naru to sit while the girls sprinted up the stairs. As soon as they were out of sight, Kitsune and Haruka rushed the movers, a crazed gleam in their eyes.

"We'll buy _every_ cigarette you have," Kitsune said, pulling out her wallet frantically.

"Huh?" The younger mover said, pulling back, warily.

"The girl with the hose," Haruka explained desperately, looking around with a hunted expression. "We're forbidden to smoke anywhere near the manager's wife and we desperately need cigarettes."

"Crazy violent women, you said?" the younger mover said to the elder, slowly taking his pack out of his pocket, and avoiding sudden movements.

The girls watched as Seta's van swerved around a corner, taking Keitaro and Naru to their respective destinations. Their hopes were with the couple as they headed out on their missions. That and hopes they would survive Seta's driving.

Kitsune sighed. "You're the computer whiz, Kanako. Can you track down how long it will take Naru to get to Kyoto?"

"Two hours," Kanako immediately replied. "I already have her reservations waiting for her. One seat going out, two coming back."

Sara raised an eyebrow. "All this to get Motoko? I thought you two didn't get along. When did things change?"

Kanako thought about that. "I guess it evolved over time. Fighting each other, then we faced the police when Naru ran off to Hokkaido. Then when Oniichan was kidnapped, we fought Su's bodyguards on Molmol-"

"That was fun," Su grinned. The others sweatdropped.

"Anyway we gained a respect for each other. So I don't mind helping out bringing her back. We're like a big happy dysfunctional family here."

Ema checked her watch. "It's 2:15 now. If she comes back tonight, she'll come back late. What should we do in the meantime?"

Shinobu cleared her throat. "Naru mentioned she'd probably be running up and down the stairs a lot going to the bathroom for the rest of her pregnancy. So, I was thinking that maybe we should move her and Sen- err, Keitaro back to the manager's room and I'll move back to my room in 201. Even if they stay in 304, I'd umm… like to move out from under Naru's old room before they get back." She blushed.

"It's not a bad idea, Shinobu," Mutsumi said, missing the point of the blush. "Exercise is good during pregnancy, but in the later months, she won't be as mobile. We should probably fix the hole or get it fixed in the floor of 304 anyway. It's a health hazard."

With unspoken accord, the girls began walking to the dorms.

"We should probably soundproof the manager's room too," Kitsune—who _didn't_ miss the point of Shinobu's blush—leered.

"I probably won't be able to get anyone to come before tomorrow," Shinobu mumbled, scowling at Kitsune's teasing. _I'm not a child anymore, dammit!_

Motoko sat quietly in her seat, watching the blurred trees zip by through the train window wondering what Naru had felt like in her previous attempts to run away. She just felt hollow inside, a void, empty. She had plans to become a lawyer, be a successful romance novelist. Now, those dreams had turned into ash. She was left with the life of the sword. _I should have stopped my education after middle school like Tsuruko did. It will take me years to catch up. _But, no. She had to admit that things wouldn't have been the same after her older sister got married, got softer. She would have wound up alone anyway. _Damn all men!_

No, that wasn't fair. Keitaro had proven over the eight years they knew each other that he was a decent man. _Damn all men except Keitaro!_

The fact was, Motoko knew Kitsune was right when she said Motoko couldn't be the one to make Keitaro happy because he had chosen Naru.

Yes, he had chosen Naru over her, and the fact that he remained faithful when he thought Naru abandoned him was proof of his decency. If it had been otherwise, Motoko might have had him, but she had to admit, it would have meant he was less decent than she thought, corrupting him out of what made him what he was.

And that was what left Motoko feeling gutted inside. Naru had a right to the Keitaro who had been ever loyal to her, ever decent… well, except for the times he walked in on her naked, she added in a mental asterisk. When Naru had screamed "_I just don't care anymore_!" to Keitaro in front of the streetcar, it wasn't because she didn't care. It was because she thought she had lost what mattered most to her. Even now, could Naru ever fully trust him again? Or would she always have doubts? Motoko knew she was guilty of causing that.

And that was why she could never accept Naru's forgiveness. Because the damage she caused between the two would probably never be healed… not all the way.

Without warning, rain began to pour outside the train. _How fitting._

The storm hit just about the time they reached Tokyo. It didn't affect Seta's speed—though it should have. It wasn't anything like a typhoon, but still heavy enough. Naru squeezed Keitaro's hand, and smiled. "I'm glad you brought me back when you did. It would have been miserable if this had hit Nagasaki while I was lost there."

She placed her other hand on her abdomen. Every time she thought about it, she was stunned to realize that they had created a new life within her. It made all their past arguments seem trivial. She was happy to be back with Keitaro, but she just hoped her worries didn't cause more messes in the future.

_I wish there was something I could do to stop overreacting to things…_

The squealing brakes jolted her from her thoughts. Looking up, she was right in front of Shinagawa station.

"I probably won't be able to talk to you while I'm at this meeting," Keitaro said. "But if you need help, call or text and I'll make an excuse."

Naru kissed him, feeling reassured by his words. "I hope that won't be necessary. I'll let you know the final results."

Boxes in hand, the girls walked into 304, Sara grumbling about having to move the dork's stuff again. It left Shinobu wondering if Sara was being unbearably obnoxious, or if her own teenage years were excessively passive. At least Naru had kept her room neat, except for the area around the bed. Clothes looked hastily discarded and scattered around. The futon had obviously used.

Blushing slightly, she averted her eyes to the ceiling… and her blush deepened, seeing the Sailor Moon lingerie tangled in the rafters. "H- how did they manage _that_?" she gasped. "Never mind!" She decided she really didn't want the mental image of _how_ burned into her brain.

Motoko got off the train, looking up at the sky. The storm had reached Kyoto too, and she purchased an umbrella for the walk home. She could have called for a ride, but she hadn't even let her parents in on the plan yet and she needed to come up with a good explanation after the sacrifices they had made so she could go to Todai.. But as she walked along, she realized that had none.

_How does one explain 'I tried to steal a man away from his wife?'_ She couldn't, but she would have to come clean, shameful as it was to admit "I was wrong." _Maybe that's why I was a drama queen and tried to commit seppuku when I had to admit I was wrong._

She made a face. The code of _bushido_ traditionally called for ritual suicide when one was dishonored. But when she thought about her past, she had to admit that her friends stopping her had made her stronger and she knew she could no longer consider this an option. _I need to live with my shame and use my training to protect others instead._ She felt the _bokken_ on her back. She could probably have done more with the Hina Blade, but she didn't deserve to wield it, and _Shisui _was broken. _Well, Miyamoto Musashi eventually switched to the bokken. Maybe I'll just try to follow his example._

Lost in thought, she reached the entrance to the _dojo_. She prepared herself for the barrage of questions, and got out her key. Suddenly a shadow emerged from the doorway.

"I think we need to talk," an uncomfortably familiar voice said shyly.

Motoko recoiled, dropping her keys. "N- N- Naru?" she gasped.

**Author's Notes**

_Bokken_: A wooden training sword for Kenjutsu. Stories say Miyamoto Musashi (a famous samurai) eventually switched from a katana to a bokken for a greater challenge. Some accounts I've read say he believed that the bokken was actually more lethal. The bokken shouldn't be confused with the shinai (a bamboo training sword) which Motoko carried to school for her kendo club.

The room assignments (based on the manga and finding room for the rest) are:

Room list

Kitsune and Mutsumi: Tea Room

201) Shinobu

202) Sara

203) EMPTY

204) (Manager's Room) Keitaro and Naru

205) (Kitsune's old room) Kanako*

301) Su

302) Motoko

303) Ema

304) (Naru's old room) EMPTY

305) Seta and Haruka*

* = sporadic residency.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: _Face Off_

The rain wasn't so bad in Kyoto as it was in Tokyo, but Naru was glad she had picked up an umbrella at the station. At least it was a warm rain. Thankfully, she knew the way to Motoko's school. After all, she had stumbled across it accidentally while on a school trip during her first year at Todai. Come to think of it, she had almost been hit by Keitaro and Motoko sent flying by Tsuruko while they tried to escape being forced into marriage.

She sweatdropped at the memory. _If anyone ever tried to make our lives into a manga plot, it would be considered too ridiculous to publish. _As it was, her current predicament felt like a bad fanfic.

Arriving, she used the bell to announce her presence. Silence. She tried again. Nothing. She hesitated. Was nobody home? Should she wait? Or had Motoko's family been forced to move once the school had been declared a national heritage site? _No_, she decided. _The address on the shipping manifest was for here. Somebody would need to come by to get it and I don't see Motoko just sending her things to an empty address_.

She decided to wait and hoped the rain wouldn't get worse before somebody showed up. Otherwise, she'd probably have to abandon her mission to prevent herself from getting sick. _I should have asked Mutsumi if getting a cold would hurt my baby_.

At least the rain was dying down. She took shelter in the doorway and waited. Ten minutes passed, enough time for her to start fidgeting and having misgivings. _I'm glad I used the restroom before I left the station._ Suddenly, she heard footsteps coming down the walk. Looking up, she saw a familiar form in _uwagi_ and _hakama,_ carrying an umbrella.

Thinking it better to show herself than to be discovered, Naru stepped out of the shadows. "I think we need to talk," she said hesitantly.

Motoko, caught completely by surprise, recoiled and dropped her keys. "N- N- Naru?" she gasped, her body instinctively going for flight. She had been focused on trying to figure out what to say to her parents. She wasn't even remotely prepared to face Naru again, and began to turn away.

Naru could see she was on the verge of running away, and knew she would never be able to catch Motoko if the younger woman fled. There was only one way she could think of to get through to her.

Dropping to her knees, Naru brought her palms to the pavement and leaned forward, emulating the _dogeza_ position Motoko had used just a few hours ago. "Please, Motoko, I beg you-"

Motoko gave a horrified gasp and rushed forward, pulling Naru to her feet. "Please don't! You've done nothing to have to bow like that to me!"

Naru locked her arms around Motoko to block any escape. "Then please don't run away… don't refuse to talk to me again!"

"W- what?" Motoko shook her head. "I'm not refusing y-. I just can't look at…" her voice trailed off. "I guess that does sound like I'm running away." She sighed and held up her keys. "Let's get out of this at least, get some tea. Then we can… well…"

"Talk?" Naru asked.

Motoko cringed, not wanting to say in words what she had a hard enough time writing. "I hoped my letter would have explained everything."

"Since when have any of us ever paid attention to a letter telling us 'goodbye forever'?"

"That's… a good point." She conceded. "Urashima-sama, I-"

"Stop it!" Naru looked frustrated. "What's with this -sama address all of a sudden? All of us were friends. Hinata House was like a home for us and we were all practically family. And now you are treating me like something unapproachable. I can't wrap my head around this!"

"Urash- um, Naru," Motoko said deciding it was best to concede the point. "I thought you were going to divorce Keitaro. I wanted him. I was trying to stake a claim before Shinobu got to him. But then I found out you didn't want a divorce. I found out you were pregnant and I realized what I did was unforgivable, even though you're being so gracious. So please. I don't want you to put yourself out through this just because the others might want me back. You should have a right to be happy without me being there to remind you of what happened. I don't know how else to explain it any more clearly to you."

"I forgave Shinobu too, you know! Dammit, Motoko! I didn't come for an explanation! I didn't 'sacrifice' myself to come because of others! I came here because I _wanted_ to bring you back where you belong! If you have a problem with me, let's hash it out! But don't give me this bullshit!" Naru gentled her tone. "Look. I'm not a samurai, so I don't know what kind of rituals you require before you feel forgiven. But whatever it takes, let me know and I'll do it! Because I want you back."

Motoko felt herself slumping to her knees. Tears began to flow. She had only felt like this once before. When Tsuruko found out she had lied about being engaged to Keitaro and expelled her from the family, Keitaro had responded with kindness, much more kindly than her past treatment of him deserved. And now Naru was doing the same. To her horror, she saw Naru kneeling down next to her, ignoring the wet pavement. _I don't deserve this!_ she protested internally.

"Please…" she whispered. "Please don't be so nice to me."

Motoko began sobbing uncontrollably. Naru embraced her, and Motoko clung to her in spite of herself. It felt like something comforting, perhaps older-sisterly, though Ane-ue had never done it for her. The thought made her feel disloyal to Tsuruko. But still… "_I don't deserve this…" _she whispered, miserably trying not to be comforted.

Naru refused to let go, holding the younger woman until her sobs finished.

Later, inside, Motoko prepared tea. Once Naru returned from the bathroom, they sat and drank quietly. Motoko finally broke the silence. "Okay, you say you didn't come for explanations, but to bring me back. So, in that case, I have to ask you—why? Why _don't_ you hate me for what I did? You were furious about that Saito woman. But you're not only not angry at me, you ran after me the same day you got home. I just don't understand."

Naru sighed. "When I encountered you near the streetcar stop, I was furious with you and Shinobu and I thought Keitaro decided he was going to divorce me for one of you. I was furious with him because I was trying to make the marriage work and I thought he was giving up on me.

"Then, when I got onto the train, I started feeling remorse for what I did, but I thought I had burned my bridges and it was too late to come back. If he hadn't come after me, I would have probably never come back to Hinata House, probably would have never realized you all didn't hate me. But he did come after me, and by doing so, I could finally grasp that his feelings for me hadn't changed despite our fighting."

Motoko pondered that. It definitely punched a hole in her belief that she had permanently destroyed the trust between the two. "Okay," she conceded, "I guess I can see how that made you reconcile with Keitaro. But I'm not sure why you want to forgive me or bring me back home, Er, to Hinata House."

Naru sipped her tea to buy her a moment to consider how to explain it. "When I was lost in Nagasaki, I wound up in a church during a religious service. There was some reading from their holy books. Basically, if I understood it right, a _daimyo _had a servant who owed him a lot of money and couldn't pay it back…"

Motoko settled in to listen. Naru was good as a teacher and made lessons interesting.

Continuing, Naru said, "The servant was going to be made a slave, but he asked for mercy and the _daimyo _granted it, canceling the debt. It turns out that the servant was owed a little money by a second servant. The second servant couldn't pay him back and asked for mercy. But the first servant had him arrested. So, when the _daimyo _learned about this he told the first servant that since he was forgiven, he should have forgiven the second servant. But since he didn't, the _daimyo _threw him into prison too. I guess the moral was, if someone forgives you something big, you should forgive the little things others do."

"And?"

"Well, it occurred to me that Keitaro and I forgave each other something huge. So I should forgive you and Shinobu for something less." Naru looked hesitant. "Don't get me wrong. If you really did set out to steal my husband and will continue to try to steal him, then maybe it's good that you left and I should thank you for leaving. But, if I'm right and this was just temporary madness on your part over unresolved feelings; if you regret it but are afraid you burned your bridges, if you're going to respect our marriage, then yes, please believe me, I do want to forgive you."

Naru blushed then, and cringed, excusing herself to go to the bathroom again. "Why does this have to be a symptom of early pregnancy?"

Motoko's mind raced in considering what Naru said. Her rigid code had classified her act as unforgivable because she could never forgive anyone who had done this to her. Indeed, such forgiveness seemed like an act of weakness. But Naru had pursued her—somehow getting to Kyoto before her—despite the difficulties of early pregnancy and the fact that she had just run to Nagasaki and back. And it wasn't just that. Naru, often the emotional wreck, had often risen out of her comfort zone to defend the rest of Hinata House, had been the unofficial leader of the girls. And Naru had come after her when—if she was just acting out of obligation—she might have made believable excuses for staying home.

_She's not weak, she's acting on what she thinks is right, like I am, but it's a better action than mine._ But there was more to it than that though. _She's doing this because she cares about me as a friend, as a member of the Hinata family and she __**wants**_ _me back_. Motoko hoped she had that right because if she did what she thought was the right choice, it would be pretty awkward if she misread Naru.

Naru exited the bathroom, hoping she wouldn't need to use it for awhile. Mutsumi had told her to keep hydrated, but the consequences of doing so were pretty damned annoying. She also hoped—feeling guilty that this was an 'also' instead of her first hope—that she had gotten through to Motoko.

She saw she had a text from Keitaro. _NO IDEA WHEN WE'LL BE DONE. JUST LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU NEED TO DO._

At that moment Motoko's phone rang. Naru winced, hoping this call wouldn't undo her work.

Motoko picked it up. "Hello?" There was a pause. "Speaking."

Well, that confirmed she had been screening calls.

"I what now?" Motoko turned to Naru and raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I'm dealing with that now. I'll have to reschedule." Another pause. "No, I'll reschedule that if I need to. I am sorry. You can keep the deposit. Thank you."

She hung up the phone. "So, the movers say I skipped out on paying you four months of back rent and they couldn't get my belongings until I paid?" She was a little more wary now. _If Naru had lied this, was it possible she was lying about her motives for bringing her back?_

Naru blushed. "Ah, it was the only excuse I could think of." Remembering Motoko's warrior code too late, Naru hoped that she wouldn't need to avenge this. "I was afraid that if your stuff got moved, we'd lose any chance of bringing you back, and we all want you back."

Motoko nodded, hoping that _was_ the case. "That was a real gamble you know. If I choose to, I have all sorts of legal options for damages, defamation of character, and the like."

Naru waited, unsure of whether this was going to be followed with a 'but' or a 'see you in court.'

"But you're right," Motoko continued. "If my stuff was shipped, I probably would have figured it was too late. But now, I don't have to think that." She smiled and extended her hand. "Should we go back home?"

Naru let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Yes, let's go home."

She pulled out her phone and sent a text. _WE'RE COMING HOME. TOGETHER._

Tsuruko watched from the trees as Motoko locked the doors and headed with Naru to the street. Tsuruko lived by a strict code, and often had exacted strict punishment on her younger sister for failing to live up to it. But she wanted her sister to succeed, in schooling, as a woman, to find her place where she could be happy… something she suspected Motoko would not find following the path of the sword. Now, perhaps she would find it.

_Thank you Naru Urashima-han, _she smiled.

**Author's Notes**

"Like a bad fanfic." I figure if I poke fun at Akamatsu, I should poke fun at myself.

The reading Naru is paraphrasing is also known as the _Parable of the Merciless Servant_. As I mentioned in FAAD, I believe that Naru wears her Cross necklace as jewelry, not out of any religious affiliation. In this story, I tried to envision how Naru (If Akamatsu ever gave her a religious affiliation I'm not aware of it) might have understood it.

"getting to Kyoto before her." How? Motoko took a Kodama train. Naru took a Shinkansen. The difference is 2 hours. So Naru actually got there first despite the head start Motoko had.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: _Seven Coins In the Hot Spring_

The streetcar reached their stop at 930pm, and the two got out, tired. Motoko was glad for the Shinkansen ride though. It shaved a few hours off of the trip. Naru was glad that they hadn't fallen asleep and got locked inside another train.

They were silent climbing the stairs. Motoko was wary. She was grateful for Naru's actions, but the fact that she had so willingly lied to the movers left a nagging doubt. Was it possible that Naru had also lied about her own feelings and was sacrificing them so everybody else would be happy?

While she would be grateful not to have to drop out of school, it would be awful if Naru felt she had to sacrifice happiness for her. Or, if Naru wanted some kind of revenge. _Don't be stupid. If she planned to do that, why would she apologize to me in the first place? _She was 90% sure that Naru wouldn't do that. But only 90% sure. _Well, if she did sacrifice her feelings for me, I will act as a retainer for her._

Naru picked up on the disquiet and worried. What if she had offended Motoko or emotionally blackmailed her into coming back. She was mostly sure that Motoko had no further designs on Keitaro—and even if she had, Naru now knew Keitaro's feelings—but not knowing that everything was 100% okay bothered her.

The courtyard was empty when they arrived.

"Do you think they went to bed?" Naru asked.

Motoko, having developed her other senses through her training, shook her head. "Listen. It sounds like there's a lot of commotion on the second floor."

Naru listened. Either she had missed a lot at first or they were suddenly louder.

"Okay, Su, send the next load down!" Shinobu called out.

There was a loud crash, followed by a _KYAAA! _from Shinobu.

"Dammit Su! Not _that_ way!" Kitsune yelled.

"I told you we should have put boards over the floor!" Kanako snapped.

Naru sweatdropped. "What in the hell are they doing up there?"

"We better find out," Motoko grumbled. "But stay behind me. I don't want you hit if something should go flying."

Making their way to the second floor, they could hear scraping, thumping, and other noises that grew louder as they approached the manager's room. Sweatdropping, Motoko knocked.

The noises stopped. The door slid open and a very disheveled Shinobu peeked out warily. Her eyes lit up when she saw the two outside. "Naru! Motoko!" She rushed to embrace them, then stopped, remembering that she was covered with dust. "We were just making some adjustments. We figured since you're going to be staying here and having a baby, it might be easier if you moved back down to the Manager's room.

"Oh? Well thank you. I hadn't even thought about that. It will help a lot."

"Were you doing this all by yourself?" Motoko asked. It was a leading question. She had heard the others after all. But she wanted to know if the others had abandoned her to do the worst of it.

Kanako and Mutsumi poked their heads out, looking even more covered with grime. They were followed by Ema, Sara, and Haruka who also looked grungy.

"Heya Naru-yan! Heya Motokos!" Su popped out, looking like she had been in a coal mine disaster. She leapt out to hug them, but the others restrained her.

"What did you do? Step on a landmine?" Motoko asked Su in disbelief.

"Hey Naru, Motoko," Kitsune said. "Glad you all made it back." She looked remarkably grime free. Everyone looked at her and sweatdropped.

Shinobu turned back to Naru. "The room is cleaned and ready for you to move in." She yawned. "I think I'm going to scrub off, soak in the hot tub."

"A soak sounds nice…" Naru agreed. "It's been a long day."

After a quick cleansing, Naru, Motoko, and Kitsune got into the hot spring. The others took longer to get the grime of cleaning off of their bodies. Su finally gave up and got a power washer.

Mutsumi sweatdropped, envisioning visits to the emergency room. "Ara, ara..." she said, confiscating it. "Yes, that will surely remove the dirt, Su-chan, but also quite possibly the skin under the dirt with it."

"You mean like an exfoliant?"

"Yes, and all the rest of your skin too."

Throwing it aside, she brought a fire extinguisher with her to the hot spring..

"Just in case any of you try smoking," she said cheerfully.

"So, here we all are," Haruka said, desperately wanting a cigarette, but not wanting to test Mutsumi.

"Yeah," Kitsune replied. "Everyone promise now… Next time somebody runs away, you gotta promise to stay in Japan. Because I do _not_ wanna have to chase somebody to Africa or to the frigging South Pole."

"So, what's going on with the dork?" Sara asked.

Haruka whapped her with her harisen.

"Well," Naru said. "You know how I told you that the reason I can't go back to Pararakelse is because they added a requirement so we have to get some vaccinations, right? How one of them induces miscarriages? Well, Keitaro wants to be here when the baby is born. So he's looking into whether the Joint Institute is okay with him getting a Masters in Todai."

A chorus of happy cries and a barrage of questions arose. Even Sara showed interest.

"So he texted me while we were on the train. I guess he and Seta are taking Lu to his flight. Then they'll be coming home." She sighed. "We decided that it would be better for us to come home instead of waiting in a hotel or a manga cafe for them to get back from Narita."

"Doesn't your dad live in Tokyo?" Shinobu asked.

"Yes," Naru said in a _don't ask_ tone.

"So much change," Motoko mused. "When you came back, I never would have dreamed all this could have happened in a week."

"Umm, Naru-san," Ema said shyly. "Do you have any plans for what to do before your due date?"

Naru put her index finger to her chin and pondered that. "Well, I guess it depends on what I can do with my pregnancy and what Keitaro works out. If there are no needs for me at Hinata House, I might take up teaching here. Probably a cram school because I imagine that a regular school might not want to hire someone leaving in eight months."

"They're always looking for more teachers at our school," Ema said, hoping Naru might sign up. From what she heard about the older woman's tutoring skills, she'd change classes in a second.

"Well my training is for teaching middle schoolers, so I don't know if I'm qualified for that."

"Too bad," Haruka remarked acidly. "Maybe you could get Sara to behave in school."

"Are you tryin'› to hint something?" Sara growled, rising to her feet and clenching one fist while adjusting her bathing suit with the other.

"No I'm saying it straight out, dammit!" She was craving a cigarette, but figured that Mutsumi would use that damned fire extinguisher. Both facts made her irritable.

Stepmother and stepdaughter glared at each other. But Haruka had many more years of experience with glares and Sara looked away first.

"Screw this. I'm going to bed." She jumped out of the hot spring and headed to the changing room. A moment later, the door slammed.

"Dammit," Haruka growled. "Here we go again." She climbed out of the tub. _How do I fix this? We used to be close. Now we're are at each other's throats_. "I'll see you all tomorrow. Ema, remember you have cram school tomorrow. Su, you have work." She headed for the door, muttering "I'm getting too old to play dorm mother."

Ema stood up too. "Umm, I'll see you all in the morning." She followed Haruka.

The others sat in embarrassed silence. Shinobu yawned. "It is getting late."

The others nodded.

Kitsune scowled. She wanted to just have fun with a gossipy drinking party (excluding Naru from the alcohol of course) and needed everyone else to join in or it would be just a solitary drinking, and that was boring. There had to be some way to keep things going and break the ice… icebreaker… _what was that stupid game we used to play? _"Hold up everyone."

She jumped up and ran to the changing area. She fished around in her pockets, then in the other girls' clothing, pulling out a handful of change and inspected the coins. She ran back"Okay everyone, it's dead here and we should be celebrating. Let's play a game! Everyone head around to the big flat rock!" The other girls did what she said, looking puzzled but glad to be distracted.

"This is a game we used ta play in group dates in high school as an icebreaker. Everyone take a ¥10 coin. We take turns and ask a question that can be answered yes or no. Each of us puts a coin under a towel. Face up if the answer is yes, face down if no. We put the coins under a towel so nobody knows who said what. Then we remove the towel. Everyone **has** ta be honest or the game won't work. It was a lot of fun playing in bars. Any questions?"

"Umm," Shinobu said hesitantly, "You played this in bars? Didn't you just say you were in high-"

"Shut up!" Kitsune explained cheerfully. "Okay, who wants to go first?"

Su slipped a coin under the towel. "Does anyone have a real person they're in a relationship with or working on getting a relationship with?" She grinned mischievously.

Kitsune smiled slyly. It was a good question for gossip..

Naru, Kitsune and Mutsumi quickly slipped their coins under the towel. Shinobu, Motoko, and Kanako hesitated, eyeing each other warily, wondering how to best answer that, given the previous fights. But they reluctantly slid the coins under.

Kitsune pulled back the napkin. Five coins were face down meaning no. Two were face up, meaning yes.

That set off a round of curious and/or suspicious looks. Obviously Naru had put up one of the yes coins, but who had put in the other?

Kanako grabbed her coin. "Okay, let's get this out in the open. Are you going after somebody who's married?" She slid it under the towel and glared. _If one of those idiots still are chasing oniichan…_

Naru slid her coin under the towel, and the others followed suit. Kitsune winced. Depending on who answered what, it could break up the recent good will. She prepared to 'accidentally' sweep the coins off of the rock to prevent exposing the unwelcome answers, but Kanako yanked the towel away, revealing…

One yes and six noes.

The tension evaporated rapidly. Motoko had answered no, meaning it, and unless Naru lied, she knew Shinobu had to have answered no too. Nobody was pursuing Keitaro. _I'm sorry, _she mouthed to Shinobu, feeling bad about glaring at her.

_Me too_, Shinobu mouthed back.

"I had to know…" Kanako excused herself.

"Then who else has somebody they're in a relationship with?" Su asked.

Mutsumi averted her eyes.

"You're not supposed to get people ta give themselves away," Kitsune intervened, sparing Mutsumi from a grilling. "Otherwise people won't give honest answers and the game doesn't work." _But I'm sure as hell going to make her talk when we get back to our rooms, _she promised herself.

_Oh no you won't_, Mutsumi smiled.

There were a chorus of "Sorry" from around the flat stone.

Still the ice had been broken, and the girls looked at each other awaiting the next question. Mutsumi held up her coin, and everyone waited eagerly.

"Who likes watermelon?" she asked cheerfully.

That brought out a chorus of groans. But everybody placed their answers. Five yes, two no.

"Good. Then two of you won't want any." Smiling, Mutsumi brought a watermelon out of somewhere, and sliced it into five pieces, eliciting a laugh.

_It was a dumb question, _Kitsune thought, _but maybe they might be more at ease in giving up secrets. _She held up her own coin. "How many of ya have gone all the way to C?"

"KITSUNE!" they all squawked in protest. Five of the girls—having never gone beyond A (deliberately. Keitaro's mishaps didn't count)—blushed deep red, either looking embarrassed or outraged. Naru rolled her eyes and put her coin under the towel.

_Tough crowd_, Kitsune thought. _Also it could be awkward—if they're all so shocked, it means they haven't got there yet. Hmm. How do I get out of this?_

Everyone slid their hands under the towel. One yes. Five No. The younger girls stared at Naru, blushing.

"Give me a break! I'm married! I'm on D. How do you _think_ Keitaro's baby got in here?" Naru growled, embarrassed by the scrutiny.

_AUUUU! We're trying not to think about that right now!_ Shinobu thought.

"Hey! There's a coin missing!" Kanako snapped.

Everyone looked at Kitsune, while Kitsune looked around pretending to be puzzled. But before an argument could break out, Shinobu shyly held up her coin. "I need to know. Is anybody still mad at me?"

That quickly became seven noes. "Nobody can stay mad at you," Naru said gently. Shinobu beamed.

Everyone turned to Naru and Motoko. Naru held up her coin. "Can we leave the past hurts behind us and move forward as friends?"

They all looked at each other and put their coins under the towel. Most of them quickly, but Kanako hesitated. Kitsune removed the covering. Seven yes.

That left Motoko. _What do I ask?_ she wondered. _There are so many things I want to know…_

"Hello!" a male voice called from outside. "Anyone In there?"

"Sen- er, Keitaro!" Shinobu exclaimed. Everyone jumped up.

Naru rolled her eyes. "Now that we're married, he finally remembers to call out instead of barge in."

"Hell yeah! Let's get the party started!" Kitsune yelled.

There was a stampede for the changing area, leaving Motoko and Naru staring at each other. Naru began cautiously easing her way out of the spring. Motoko held up her coin.

"I have some concerns after I learned how you stretched the truth with the movers. Maybe I shouldn't. But, I need to know whether you just did all this for everyone else."

"I thought we settled this. I would have thought my question made it clear."

"I know. But please just give me this and remember the promise in this game to answer this honestly: After all I did, Will you _really_ forgive me and remain my friend?"

Naru raised her eyebrow. Standing, she held up her coin and slid it under the towel. She gave a slight enigmatic smile. "I'll see you in the morning." She hurried to the changing area, leaving Motoko alone.

Motoko stared at the towel for a minute. Finally she pulled it away, exposing the coin.

It was face up.

**Author's Notes**

This concludes the "Reconciliation" arc that I originally intended to be in FAAD. I decided to make it the first part of _Barriers _because I thought it would otherwise make FAAD too long and take away from the reconciliation of Keitaro and Naru. One problem I had with the ending of Akamatsu's _Negima _was how he kept slapping on extra plots—probably because of the publisher requests—until I found it tedious instead of interesting. Of course, it could just be that I missed what other readers liked about his series.

From here, I move on to the next arc, unofficially called "Separation," where Keitaro and the rest deal with being apart for his trip to Pararakelse. While I don't know how long I can come up with ideas, I hope that, if I ever do have to call it quits, I can at least end it without leaving everybody with a _My Name is Earl_ kind of ending.

The title of this chapter was inspired by "Three Coins in the Fountain." The game they're used in was inspired by a story in the Kaguya-sama: Love is War manga, though that game was much more cutthroat.

"Joint Institute" the full title in the manga was _The Universities of Tokyo and Pararakelse Joint Archaeological Ressearch Institute_.

"Lu" While I understand he had a bigger role in the anime, in the manga, Lamba Lu gets a one panel mention in a letter delivered by Nyamo to Keitaro.

"while adjusting her bathing suit" I figure Sara is still hiding her panda birthmark.

"Shut up!" Kitsune explained" An homage to the classic line by Ring Lardner.

"Who here has gone all the way to C?" In Japan it used to be that kissing was "A," groping was "B," and sex was "C." Akamatsu did a short manga about that, which was translated here:

wiki/HINATA_118.1

"I'm on D". D would be pregnancy under Kitsune's letter ranking.

In case you're curious about who put in Yes (face up) answers:

• Question 1: Naru, Mutsumi

• Question 2: Naru

• Question 3: Mutsumi, Naru, Shinobu, Su, Kitsune

• Question 4: Naru (Kitsune cheated and didn't put down a coin)

• Question 5: nobody

• Question 6: All of them

• Question 7: Naru


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven:** _Stormclouds Overseas_

**Preliminary Notes**: I haven't forgotten the story. I just had a hard time getting part two rolling. Not much happens here, but it does set the stage.

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Keitaro sighed, sick of the paperwork he had to fill out. Application for graduate studies, confirming receipts from grant work, his share of the forms turning over the dig to Artyom. It had been a busy week. _This isn't even my final form, _he thought wryly. Judging by the piles, it would take a couple more weeks to finish. He checked his watch. 11:30am, time for a break. He reached for the newspaper.

"Dammit!"

Exasperated, Naru hang up the phone and stamped her foot in frustration. "Ugh! What is _wrong_ with the Pararakelse phones?" She had been trying to call the Cha family with news of her pregnancy and that she wouldn't be returning. And that she had reconciled with Keitaro. She was bubbly and excited to share all the news… and now it looked like she was shifting to another mood swing—all brought on by the hormonal mood shifts.

Keitaro gave a start and looked up from the paper. "What the hell…?"

With the mood swings of pregnancy, what goes up must come down. Naru's face fell. "I- I'm sorry Keitaro…" A tear trickled down her face. "I didn't mean to disturb you. I know you have a lot to prepare for."

"What?" Keitaro jumped up, aghast. "No, that wasn't about you! I just saw a piece in the paper about Pararakelse."

"R- really?" A relieved smile emerged from Naru's tear stained face. "What's going on?"

Keitaro fumbled for the paper. Umm, 'A group of soldiers, calling themselves the _People's Redemption Coalition, _had attempted a coup. Communication has been cut to the island for the past three days.' That's all it says.

"I hope everyone is okay over there," Naru remarked, suddenly anxious about her friends, and feeling guilty about feeling relieved just now. _Ugh, these mood swings!_ "I don't think I've seen a soldier the entire time we were there. I didn't even know they _had_ a military in Pararakelse."

"Yes, they do," Shinobu replied from the kitchen. "Nyamo's boyfriend, Emori, is a captain in it." She and Nyamo had been writing to each other ever since high school when Nyamo had visited Japan with her letter from Lamba Lu. Just last month, she had mentioned that she hoped Emori would proposed. "If he got hurt or-" _Or was involved_, she suddenly thought. "Auuuu! Poor Nyamo! If something happened to him…"

"Ara… Or her," Mutsumi put in, flustered.

"Err, that too," Shinobu felt embarrassed for not thinking about that.

That threw everything for a loop. Pararakelse was a quiet country with a peaceful population. To learn that it could have the same turmoil of every other country, and that people they knew could be personally affected by it scared them, and they rushed for their phones.

"Umm," Naru sweatdropped, "The newspaper said that the phone lines… ahh why do I bother?"

Despite her reminder, they tried calling Nyamo, Artyom, the Cha family, but the results were the same: an automated message saying that due to a state of emergency, all calls into and out of the country were blocked.

Su came down the stairs then in her Manpan work uniform—white blouse under a blue dress—ready to head to her internship. "What's going on?" she asked, curiosity piqued by the commotion.

"We're worried about Nyamo!" Shinobu said.

"Why don't ya just call her then?"

"There's fighting going on in Pararakelse!" Motoko snapped as she hung up the phone. "All the overseas lines are cut off! We can't get any information." She paused. "Wait, you're a Molmol princess. Since Molmol is next to Pararakelse, maybe your security forces know something?"

Su pondered that. "I can call and ask while I'm waiting for the streetcar." She said, fumbling for her phone. Then she paused. "Wait, you said just the overseas lines were cut, right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Hmm, I remember Keitaros saying he had a Satellite phone. Did you try that?"

"Would that work?" Motoko asked. She tended to be the slowest to try new technology.

"Sure, as long as interior phone lines and towers work. Satellite phones can get past communications blocks because they don't rely on overseas cables. You can jam an area but it's kind of impractical to jam a whole country just in case someone tries to call on one. That's why I plan to ban them once- Umm, I mean that's why dictators usually ban them.

Keitaro sweatdropped, remembering Su's number two goal. "Right, let me get it."

They headed to the roof while Keitaro collected the bulky device. "Let's see," he muttered, checking a compass. "Satellite should be coming from there." A time tone indicated he had a signal. "Got it, lets see." He punched in a number, and set it to speaker mode.

It rang and rang. Finally, there was a click.

"Hello?" a wary woman's voice came on. "Who is this?"

"Hello, Nyamo. It's Keitaro."

"Keitaro?" The usually taciturn young woman suddenly poured out a torrent of words. "How did you even get back into the country? It's martial law right now! All foreigners are restricted to their homes. Even we're only allowed outside every other day! Where are you holed up?"

"I'm- in Japan," Keitaro replied, taken aback. "I'm using the Satellite phone. What the hell's going on over there? Are you all right? Is our crew all right?"

"Umm, yes. I've been checking up on the foreign members of the crew when they let us out. Artyom is frustrated and is talking about getting his family out of the country once they resume flights. Dr. Cha wants to do the same, but his wife is arguing with him… something about not wanting him to be a… 'Goose dad?'"

Another voice was heard in the backgrounds—an educated, cultured woman's voice. "Did you still want me to help you with—oh, who are you talking to, Nyamo?"

"Oh yeah, Makie's staying with me."

"MAKIE?" the other girls exclaimed.

Keitaro sweatdropped. Naru glowered.

"Wait, is that Keitaro Senpai on the phone? Hello Senpai. I'm glad you got out of this before it started!"

"_Senpai?_" It was Shinobu's turn to glower. Yes, she was working on calling him 'Keitaro' now to break her patterns that might lead to pursuing him again. But she still resented hearing anyone else use the term.

"Umm, do you have me on speakerphone or something?" One could almost hear Nyamo sweatdrop. "Anyway, yeah, a shell came down in her back yard the first night. It tore her apartment up. Luckily she had the sense to lie down in the tub when the shooting happened and that protected her."

_Too bad_, Naru thought. Hearing her again dredged up all the memories and jealousy. She immediately felt ashamed of thinking that way. _This is a human life here. What the hell is the matter with me?_

"How bad was it?" Keitaro asked.

"The first night was scary. We could hear gunfire and some artillery. The next day was mostly quiet. I think they must have driven out the rebels because today there wasn't anything I could hear. We just keep the drapes closed and stay inside until they send by a water tanker by that announces we can go outside and refill water bottles. Hopefully we can get back to normal soon."

They could hear a rumbling sound in the background. "Nyamo," Makie called out, "it sounds like the water tanker is here."

"Oh, good. Ma-chan, since I can go out, I'll start filling and bringing the jugs to the door if you want to start flushing stuff."

"You got it, Nyamo-chan!"

_Chan?_ Shinobu thought. She realized it was irrational to think Nyamo wouldn't have other friends, but did it have to be _that_ woman?

"Umm, Keitaro," Nyamo spoke into the phone again. "This is important. We really need to stock up on water until the next time they come by. Then I need to check up on the others in our crew and buy food."

"Okay, Nyamo, be safe out there. If you can, call us. If not, I'll call in a couple of days on the satellite phone again."

Naru gave a start. "Wait, if you see the Cha's tell-" she stopped as she heard the chirp of the disconnect. _Tell them I'm pregnant and things are okay with Keitaro… _a tear trickled down her face.

Keitaro looked up. Oh, Naru, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were going to say something."

"N-no… it's okay. With all they're going through, it's selfish of me to want to share my news." It wasn't just about sharing news. It was about being worried about Nyamo and the Cha family, knowing they were worried about her and Keitaro. Wanting to say, I'm glad you're safe and you can stop worrying about me. _Now everyone will think I'm just self-centered and don't care about others_.

Despite her best efforts, a sob escaped. That led to a stampede of Hinata residents and hugs. Mutsumi had told them about pregnancy mood swings and the need to be supportive.

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Author's Notes

The idea of a failed coup came around by reading the about the coup by SSGT John K. Doe in Liberia and some coups in Fiji.

Writing for Nyamo was a challenge. I wanted to keep her in character, but in the manga, she didn't know much Japanese while the others didn't speak much English. As a result she was rather shy. But since Todai requires English, I figure they're able to communicate more effectively. So I figure she would be more natural.

We also see the introduction of Makie. While the obvious trope is the spoiled princess type, I figured I would go with someone who would be someone an insecure Naru _would _feel threatened by: beautiful, intelligent and sharing an interest in Keitaro's field.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight: **_**Matters of Concern**_

Mutsumi sat in the storage area of the tearoom trying to keep up with her studies, cringing every time the door slid open. Naru was exhibiting the classical signs of _Hypochondriacal Symptoms in Pregnancy_. It was important to help expecting mothers to overcome those tendencies because the mental well-being of the mother was important for the healthy development of the baby. But sometimes Naru was a bit ridiculous.

"_Mutsumi… I bumped my stomach on the counter. Will I lose the baby?"_

"_No, Nacchan." (Cheerfully) "At this time, the baby is protected inside the pelvis. Minor bumps won't hurt it."_

"_Mutsumi, I accidentally swallowed some mouthwash? Will it poison the baby?"_

"_No, Naru." (Puzzled) "Unless you swallowed enough to get drunk off of, that's not going to cause harm."_

"_Mutsumi… I've been getting a lot of nose bleeds and I get bleeding gums after brushing my teeth. Is that serious?"_

"_No." (Sighing) "Your body is actually producing more blood now that you're pregnant."_

"_Mutsumi… my skin is getting dry and flaky. Am I coming down with some disease?_

"_No." (Gritted teeth) "That's a natural hormonal condition as your body adjusts to being pregnant."_

It was getting on her nerves, but it was made worse by another problem. Overprotective friends of Hypochondriac Mothers.

"_Mutsumi_," Motoko had said. "_Perhaps we should raise the height of the doors so Naru won't hit her head."_

"_Ara. Ara. The doors are two meters high. Naru is only 165 centimeters tall. If she is in danger of hitting her head on the doorframe, please tell her to stop wearing stilts before she falls and hurts herself."_

"_Ah, so she __**can**_ _hurt herself from bumps! Why did you tell her not to worry?"_

"_What?"_

"_Mutsumi!" _A panicky Shinobu said, bursting through the door. "_Naru is complaining of heartburn! Auuuu! I must be killing her with my bad cooking!"_

"_No, Shinobu. It's hormonal."_

"_You say __**everything **__is hormonal!"_

_A sweatdrop. "It's a natural result of progesterone. It causes the valve between the stomach and esophagus to relax, and the result is stomach acid passing into the esophagus."_

"_Auuuu! Are there foods I can serve that reduces this progesterone?"_

"_No, Shinobu. It __**is**_ _an essential hormone in pregnancy."_

That wasn't the only feedback about Naru's pregnancy. After coming across Kitsune and Haruka, sheltered under a tree during a rainstorm, up by the remains of the Annex, smoking like they were making a parody of a Cheech and Chong film, they barraged her with pleas.

"_Can't you allow us to smoke in the tearoom when Naru's not there?"_

"_Only if you're willing to disinfect __**all**_ _of it afterwards."_

And then there was Su. She wanted to help. She was trying…

…she was very trying. Like the time she built the special recliner for Naru.

"_So...this is a relatively normal massage chair, Su?" _Naru had asked.

"_Unfortunately," _Su replied, glumly

Mutsumi glared_._

"_Err, I mean, yep!"_

Naru hesitantly sat down. "_Well… okay… I'll give it a try." _She turned it on trepidatiously. It didn't blow up. "_Oh… wow," _she sighed, easing back and relaxing. "_This is amazing. Just what I need for all of these body aches. And the heating feature is especially thoughtful. You say the settings are adjustable?"_

"_Yep! Glad ya like it! but you're already at the highest setting. Mutsumi wouldn't let me build it to the original specs, which included Turbo Swedish Shiatsu and..."_

Naru sat up abruptly_. "What on earth is Swedish Shiatsu?" _she asked, fumbling for the controls.

"_It's a new fusion massage technique of my own design!" _Su smiled, oblivious to Naru's alarm and Mutsumi's death glare.

"_Uh..huh," _Naru said, switching it off_. "And do I dare ask what the highest heat level was going to be called?"_

"_Tokyo Jii-san Onsen!" _she exclaimed, giving Naru a thumbs up_._

Naru looked at Mutsumi, who was frantically waving her arms and mouthing _**NO**_**!**

"_Ah. I think… this setting right here is perfect, Su. Thank you." _Naru started it up again.

"_Okies!" _Su said, beaming_. "I'm happy you like it."_

The only one who wasn't stressing was Keitaro. Mutsumi put that down to male cluelessness. It wasn't that he was uncaring. Actually he was rather supportive of Naru through her morning sickness and mood swings—when he detected them. But, being a man, he had no baseline for what a woman's body went through in general, let alone when his wife's body was changing. So sometimes he would propose activities that were good doing during pregnancy but not always what Naru needed at that particular moment. Like exercise…

.

.

.

"Hey, Naru," Keitaro said, throwing open the window shades at dawn. "Want to take hike before breakfast?" It was something they had been doing when they were first married. It gave them time to enjoy each other's company in the peace of early morning.

Naru groaned, rolled over and buried her face in her pillow. "Maybe later. Lemme sleep," she muttered.

"Come on Naru. You know Mutsumi says you need to exercise during pregnancy." He gently shook her, and placed his face next to hers, kissing her forehead.

Naru opened her eyes and glared. "Let. Me. Sleep." she growled before rolling around the other way, burying herself under the covers.

If Keitaro had a clue in life, he probably would have avoided half his problems with Naru. But he didn't and he didn't. He playfully pulled the covers away. "Come on, up and at 'em," he said giving her a playful tickle.

Naru sat up, turning to face him. Her eyes narrowed dangerously.

.

.

Shinobu walked down the hall, carrying the tray of tea. Instinct kicked in. She let out a shriek and ducked as a Keitaro sized object crashed through the sliding door and impacted on the wall.

"I SAID LET ME SLEEP!" Naru hissed, almost demonically. She laid down, pulling the covers over her head, grumbling.

Keitaro wondered if he should focus on exorcising in the morning instead of exercising.

Later, Mutsumi patiently explained, "Ara, Kei-kun. Exercise _is_ good. But, when an expectant mother wants to sleep, let her sleep. It's healthy for the baby, healthy for the mother, and good for keeping the expectant father alive until the baby is born."

Keitaro sweatdropped.

Naru entered the tearoom shortly after that, all apologetic. "I'm so sorry about this morning," she said shyly. "Why don't you come upstairs now and I'll-" she whispered something in his ear which—given the goofy grin on his face—Mutsumi didn't want to overhear.

Naru noticed Mutsumi and, giving an embarrassed smile, asked, "Umm, is there anything Keitaro and I need to be careful about when we… erm, you know…?"

Blushing furiously, Mutsumi took a pamphlet titled _Sexual Intercourse During Pregnancy _out of her purse and jammed it into Naru's hands. "Thank you for visiting Hinata Tea House! Have a Nice Day!" she growled through gritted teeth.

.

.

.

And that was the sort of thing that went on during the days since they came back that led to her hiding out, tensing up every time she heard the door and Kitsune calling out, _Irrashaimase_. It wasn't that she didn't want to help Naru, or was adverse to dealing with pregnancy. She planned to specialize in OB/GYN after all and was at the moment doing research that she hoped would help Naru. It was just that she wasn't a doctor yet and they were expecting her to be a Hazama Kurō instead of just giving minor medical advice.

"_Irrashai-_ Oh, hi Naru. What's up?" Kitsune's voice rang out.

"I, Umm, was looking for Mutsumi."

Mutsumi held her breath. _Please don't give me away_.

"I'm not… sure," Kitsune said hesitantly. On one hand, Kitsune didn't like to mislead Naru. On the other, she understood the stress Mutsumi was going through. _Maybe I can use this as leverage to learn about Mutsumi's relationship later_, she thought with a calculating smile.

"Right…" Naru said skeptically. She walked over to the storage room and knocked on the door.

Mutsumi sighed, then, rearranging her face to her regular demeanor, walked over and answered slid the door open. "Hello, Nacchan," she smiled. What brings you here today?"

"Pulled groin muscle?" Kitsune interjected with a leer.

Naru's eyes narrowed as she looked at Kitsune.

Mutsumi shook her head. "I think it will probably wind up with one case of blunt force trauma to to the right hand and one case of minor hematoma supra cranium." She stood back and waited.

THUMP

"OW!"

Sighing, Mutsumi began treating Naru's bruised knuckles and the bump on Kitsune's head. "So, anyway, what _does _bring you here today?"

Naru didn't bring up a litany of discomforts. Instead she shifted uneasily. "Umm, I know you're studying physical medicine and this is probably not something you're trained in, but I'm wondering if I'm erm, well if I'm…" she mumbled something inaudible.

"With…" Mutsumi prompted gently.

Kitsune pushed in, excited about new gossip. "Yeah?"

Looking ashamed, Naru hunched over defensively, avoiding eye contact. "Never mind," she mumbled. Abruptly, she jumped to her feet. "Sorry to bother you."

Mutsumi's eyes narrowed.

.

.

.

She led Naru outside, leaving Kitsune clutching a second bump. They headed down the steps and went over to the forgotten playground they and Keitaro used as children.

"So, you're worried about something that's outside the usual concerns?" Mutsumi prompted again.

"Well, I'm wondering if I'm-" she shook her head miserably. "If I'm crazy!" she said the last in a rapid whisper.

Mutsumi kept her voice calm. "Ara, I'm glad you did come to talk about it, Nacchan, instead of letting fear and shame keep you silent." The two of them sat side by side on the swings. "I don't know if you have a problem or not. Like you said, this is outside my training. But we have had classes on the subject of mental illness and emotional disorder."

She reached over and placed her hand on the younger woman's shoulder. "They train us to be aware of it because too many Japanese are ashamed to come forward when they think they have a problem, and often, if some do come forward, they are told to just endure it in silence. We in the medical field don't want that."

There was more to it than that, but she didn't want to upset Naru, or put ideas in her mind. One lecturer had expressed frustration over what that all too often led to: _Aokigahara, _the _Chūō-sen kaisoku_ trains, etc. "_You must_," he had urged, "_be gentle and supportive, guiding people to come forward and seek help. And you need to refer them to people who can and will help them. The government is working on a plan to reduce the incidence of suicide. But our society is _'tolerant'" he practically spat out the word, "_and leads people to treat it lightly and think of it as the only way out! Think about all the manga portraying __**seppuku**_ _as an honorable act or for laughs_."

The lecture had haunted her. To be a doctor meant saving lives and, if she had not already planned on her focus, she might have considered switching to psychiatry instead. But she had paid close attention in school, hoping for more ways to save lives.

"So tell me more about what you feel," she promoted, calmly.

Naru thought for a moment. "Well, even before I became pregnant, some days I would feel full of energy, enthusiastic, but during those times I would tend to get irritable at things that threw me off my stride. Other days, I would feel like a failure, worthless. Like maybe everyone would be happier if it wasn't for me. Now that I'm pregnant, I find myself wondering what kind of life the baby is going to have."

She suddenly waved her hands, "Ah, I don't mean like I'm thinking about hurting myself or ending my pregnancy! I could _never_ do that. I just mean I'm afraid of what I might turn out to be." Naru sighed. "Am I… uhh, crazy? Or is this just another one of my needless worries?" Her expression showed she was hoping it was the latter.

Mutsumi pondered this for a moment. She could think of all sorts of possibilities of what it could be—some of them quite serious. But she forced herself to stay calm. _I'm not the one qualified to diagnose_, she reminded herself. So, she smiled and said. "_Ara_, this is one area outside of my area of study. But I also want to avoid my mistake in not telling you _anything_ before you were diagnosed as being pregnant. So, there _might_ be a problem but you need someone who can evaluate you and make a referral if you do need some support."

Naru's face fell. "So… who do I need to see about being insane?" The thought of being locked away after giving birth frightened her. But if she was crazy—

"_Naru!_ Having a problem that needs treatment is not the same as being insane." Mutsumi said firmly. "Actual insanity is only a small portion of being mentally ill, and that's only if you have a mental illness in the first place. Many people who have mental illness can be treated so they can live normal lives."

Gentling her tone, she said "As for who to see, I would suggest that you tell Dr. Juse what you told me the next time you go in for a prenatal visit. Write them down so you don't forget. Then she can help you determine if your problems just seem worse than they are because you are pregnant or whether you should see a specialist."

"Okay," Naru said hesitantly. "I guess I can-"

Mutsumi gave her an intense stare.

"-erm, I mean I will do that," Naru hastily amended. "Anything else?"

"Yes. Tell Kei-kun about your fears. If he understands, I know he will be supportive."

"Do you really think he will?"

"_Ara_, Nacchan. He chased you across Japan because he loves you. Do you really think he would give up now?"

.

.

.

.

**Author's Notes**

As always, please don't use my medical googling for a real diagnosis. I imagine a real doctor would find a lot of errors in my interpretation of afflictions. Don't think "well, my condition should be harmless because Kamo-gaki said it wasn't serious."

Hazama Kurō. A masked surgeon from the manga _Black Jack_ who operates from the shadows.

While mental illness still carries a stigma in the West, in Japan it tends to be much worse where people are expected to "endure it" and "keep it to themselves." As a result, many never seek help. This is one of the "barriers" that gives this story its name. Mutsumi's thoughts were inspired by the concerns of Japanese doctors I read in articles on this topic.

"_Aokigahara, _the _Chūō-sen kaisoku_ trains, etc." Notorious places for suicide.

"The government is working on a plan to reduce the incidence of suicide." The White Paper was issued in 2007 (a year after the story takes place) aimed at reducing the suicide rate by 20% by 2017.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9:** _Warning Signs_

With the curfew finally lifted permanently, Nyamo and Makie had walked to Makie's place to inspect how bad off it was. A quick glance told them it was a wasted trip.

"I don't think we're going to salvage anything out of your place," Nyamo said, a little stunned at the wreckage. "It looks like they drove a tank through it."

That wasn't literally true. The Pararakelse military didn't have any tracked vehicles. But a Ural-4320 6x6 had smashed into the remains of Makie's small bungalow, leaving only two badly damaged walls standing before driving out the other side.

"I'm glad I ran to your place after that shell came down," Makie replied, realizing what a narrow escape she had. "When it hit, I thought the whole town had blown up."

"I'm glad you ran over too." Nyamo inspected one of the standing walls and winced. It was riddled with holes. God only knew what kind of damage that would have done to a human being.

As it turned out a shell hadn't actually hit the house. The story coming out now was that an 81mm mortar shell had landed in an empty field about a hundred meters from her place. That put it out reach from the blast radius of the round. Unfortunately, the shrapnel went much further. If it hadn't been for the fact that Makie had been shielded in the bathtub, she probably would have been killed.

"Well, when they restore the phone lines to the rest of the world, I'll have to have Daddy send me some new things," Makie replied, a bit too cheerfully considering what she barely escaped.

"Well, you better not have him send so much this time. You don't want to have the same problem moving it that you had last time."

Makie smiled dreamily. "I imagine that Keitaro-senpai should be back soon. We need to finish up the dig before the typhoon season after all. I'm sure he'll help me."

Nyamo sighed. Makie was a good friend. But Keitaro and Naru were also good friends. Makie's mad crush, Keitaro's inability to turn down a damsel in distress, and Naru's recent irrationality sometimes left her caught in between the warring parties. While her attendance at Church was sporadic lately, Nyamo's late grandfather had instilled in her a respect for the moral teachings—one of them involving the prohibition against pursuing married men. So she knew she couldn't just hide her head in the sand over Makie's crush. Hoping to save all her friendships, she cleared her throat.

"Please tell me you're not actually going to make a play for him, Makie."

Makie pretended not to hear. But inside, she felt a little stung. _It isn't my fault that Senpai got stuck with a horrible woman!_ Nyamo wouldn't stop staring at her though. "I just want to make sure Senpai has a happy life."

…_and that's why you need to keep your distance_, Nyamo thought.

…_and that's why I need to be a place of refuge for him,_ Makie thought.

"Let's check up on the Cha Family next," Nyamo said, changing the subject.

.

.

.

Motoko sat at her desk, pondering a blank sheet of paper. She had put her romance novels on hiatus because she could no longer pretend that they were anything other than adulterous fantasies about Keitaro. But she still felt the urge to write, to express herself.

So, taking up a _sumi-e _brush, she began to compose a haiku.

_My heart is empty_

_My life is now a fresh slate…_

"Mogami River," Su whispered from behind.

_Mogami Ri—_

"Dammit Su!" Motoko crumpled the paper and glared at the grinning young woman. "What do you want?"

"Kanako's back."

Motoko jumped to her feet. Su seemed pretty happy so it probably wasn't bad news. "Did she say what was going on?"

"Nope, but she seemed happy."

.

.

The girls hurried over to the tea room to hear the news. Kanako was there with Kitsune, Shinobu, and Mutsumi. Mutsumi was leafing through a stack of textbooks. They all had tea, except Kitsune, who had a flask of sake.

"So, she's doing well.," Kanako was saying. "She wants to do a short trip before I return to Todai. The doctors aren't too thrilled with the idea, and both of them want me to push me to persuade the others."

As the summer wore on, Kanako had been devotedly visiting Grandma Hina daily, helping with her rehabilitative therapy and tending to her needs. Of course, since what Grandma Hina saw as a "need" ran afoul of the doctor's orders, Kanako tended to come back from Tokyo looking rather frazzled.

"Are you going to be all right with the pressure?" Haruka asked, a little guiltily. Between Keitaro's working on his application for graduate school and Naru's pre-natal checkups, they had valid excuses for not having the opportunity to visit Grandma Hina in the hospital. But she just had a stepdaughter going through a rebellious phase. It hardly seemed like the same category.

"Yeah, I think so," Kanako sighed. "She's not as obnoxious as she used to be. I think she realized that if she wants to see her great-grandchild, she's got to slow down a little. She just disagrees with the doctor on what 'a little' is." She looked up. "Now, what's the story about Keitaro's child?"

"I think Naru might have some involvement here," Kitsune said drily.

_I'm trying not to think about that_, Kanako thought.

"Well, we're all trying trying to make sure that Naru is kept safe," Shinobu began. "We tell Mutsumi when we're worried about something."

"Ah, and Mutsumi runs over and takes care of it?" Kanako's tone wasn't a question but an imperious statement.

"So far, there hasn't been anything I need to take care of," Mutsumi replied with a strained patience.

"Are you sure about that," Motoko asked. "Seems that there could be a chance and you should be less cavalier about it."

"What?" Kanako snapped. "How can you take risks like that?"

Mutsumi gave a brittle smile and pushed the stack of OB/GYN textbooks in front of Motoko. It was about two feet high. "_Ara, Ara, _Motoko-san. If you think I missed something, you are welcome to review and let me know." Her tone was sweet, but there was something unnerving about that tone.

Motoko sweatdropped.

Haruka got to her feet. "Well, I better check on things." She hurried out.

"Umm… Maybe we should arrange our schedules so we can always keep an eye on Naru," Shinobu said. "If we see anything wrong, we can let Mutsumi know."

Making a sound somewhere between a sigh and a growl, Mutsumi grabbed the flask from Kitsune and poured the contents into her cup, which she promptly downed. "_Ara…_" she muttered, eye twitching.

**Author's Notes **

"The Pararakelse military didn't have any tracked vehicles." The Pararakelse military is based on the military of Fiji. So no actual tanks. Finding out the size and armaments of the military of a small Pacific Island nation, helped me get a sense of scale for Pararakelse's failed coup—not very big.

"Mogami River" _Nichijou_ began in 2006. The series strikes me as a world Su would be at home in. One of the running jokes is a character Yūko Aioi composes haiku but always ends it with "Mogami River" (probably unable to think of an ending).


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten: **_Rush Preparations_

Keitaro strode into the room, beaming, opened envelope in his hand. "Hello everyone," he said. Looking around, he noticed that the room was two people short of everyone. "Where are Naru and Su?"

"Su's still at work. I'm not sure where Naru is," Motoko replied, looking up from from her legal textbooks.

"Dammit, Shinobu!" Kanako snapped. "You had one job."

"Don't blame me!" Shinobu growled back. "She slipped out earlier while I was doing preparation for dinner. You would rather have ramen then? Besides, her doctor's appointment is local."

"Dare I ask what job that was?" Keitaro asked, sweatdropping. When the other girls were in a conspiracy regarding his wife, he worried.

"Ahh..." Kanako said, hesitantly.

"Urm..." Shinobu said at the same time. Saying _We're spying on your wife_ might be a little awkward.

"So, what's in the letter?" Kitsune asked, divesting him of it with a skill that would make a professional pickpocket envious. Unfolding it, she read aloud, "_Due to his accomplishments in the field, The University of Tokyo is pleased to announce that Urashima Keitaro has been accepted into the Graduate Program for Archaeology, beginning the 2007 Academic Year_… Hey, congratulations, Keitaro!"

The other girls swarmed him, showering him with congratulations."

"Kitsune!" Keitaro protested. "I wanted to share the news with Naru first!"

"What news?" Naru asked, walking into the room with Su. She looked at Kitsune and formed a fist.

"Oops," Kitsune said.

"Umm, did you and Su get to the station at the same time?" Shinobu asked, hoping to distract attention from Kitsune. Besides, Su was coming from Tokyo and Naru's doctor was in Hinata City. So their arriving at the same time was unusual.

"Nope," Su said with her usual cheerful cluelessness. "We both caught the same streetcar from Tokyo. Erm, what's the matter, Naru-yan?"

Naru was frantically trying to wave Su off.

"Tokyo?" the other girls exclaimed.

"Naru," Motoko looked concerned. "Is that wise to go unescorted? We don't want you or the baby injured."

Naru sighed. Aside from her secret, everybody had been so clingy lately that she had taken to sneaking out to get some privacy. _And if they ever found out about __**that**_ _appointment…_

"Kei-kun," Mutsumi said sweetly while shooting Motoko a look. "Why don't you tell Nacchan your news?"

Naru sighed in relief as the celebration distracted the others. Only Keitaro and Mutsumi knew about these appointments. And that was as far as she wanted the news about them.

.

.

"Okay, thanks Daddy," Makie said into the phone while Nyamo listened from the kitchen. "No, this new place will be furnished. I'll just need my clothes and a replacement laptop." A pause. Nyamo sweatdropped. Speaking so casually about something like that. Her own machine, a cheap desktop, was five years old, and she dreaded having to replace it when it died. "No, I'm sure. I can find somebody to help me."

_Here we go again,_ Nyamo thought. She hated the thought of her friend chasing after Keitaro, and hurting Naru. She remembered the night before Keitaro left on his last dig. Naru had come over, angry and grieving. It had taken a lot of gentleness and patience to calm her down. Then, the next day, learning Keitaro was moving out, Naru had been devastated. _And I couldn't help her because I went on the dig, not knowing he did that. Thank God for the Cha family._

Now that the two were reconciling, it would be terrible if they went back to the bad old days. But Nyamo didn't have many options. Threatening to throw her out was a moot point when she had a new place lined up. _Besides, Makie is my friend, G**damnit_!

She crossed herself and said an Act of Contrition, ashamed of thinking a blasphemy.

"Yeah, mom." Apparently Makie's father had passed the phone. "I think he's a decent guy. He might be free soon."

Nyamo sighed. She did have one option to show her disapproval. She picked up a spatula and walked into the room.

"No, no. I'm sure it will work out well. That's how you got Daddy, right? I- OW!"

Nyamo had thwacked her on the head, and glared disapprovingly. She hoped this wouldn't turn into an argument.

"No, just my roommate," Makie said, rubbing her head. "I better get going. Love you too, Mom." She turned to Nyamo, a puzzled expression on her face. "What?"

That took Nyamo aback. "What do you mean, 'What?' Keitaro and Naru are finally working on fixing their relationship. What do you mean he might be free soon?"

Makie gave her a blank look. "Japan isn't like here, Nyamo. We don't feel like we have to stay together in a bad marriage like people here do."

Nyamo gave Makie a look that dropped the temperature several degrees. "Please don't look at us like a damn National Geographic culture. We're not primitives."

"Oh, hell. I'm sorry Nyamo. I- I didn't mean it like that. I just mean, we're different. They might be trying to rekindle the spark, but they're not right for each other. In Japan, once people realize that, divorce is easy."

"It shouldn't be," growled Nyamo. She'd be pretty angry if Emori had those views on marriage. "And what about the baby on the way?" _It looks like it's going to be a fight anyway._

"There's a lot of options. I'll support Keitaro-senpai if he wants custody. Or Naru might want it. That's assuming they _want_ to even have it."

Nyamo's jaw dropped. Just because they were friends, didn't mean you couldn't be angry with the person. "You're unbelievable!" She whirled and stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

She liked Makie, Keitaro, and Naru. But they could be so damned _frustrating_ in their attitudes at times.

.

.

After Naru received the news, Keitaro faced the others. "While we're all here, Naru and I have been considering the future of Hinata House."

That got their attention.

"I- is something wrong?" Shinobu asked, worriedly.

"No, not immediately," Keitaro replied. "Since I'll be here for at least two years, we need to decide what the plans are going to be. I mean, all of you will have graduated by the time I'm finished."

Everybody stared, rooted in their spots.

"Just to make it clear," Naru interjected, "we're not throwing anybody out." The two of them had decided that Keitaro would bring the troubling news, and she would give the good news.

A collective sigh of relief went through the room.

"We're practically a commune right now," Keitaro continued. But we probably won't stay that way. Some of you might move away with jobs or marriage. So, we'll have to find a way to keep up with the expenses." He looked a little sad. "Grandma Hina is still helping support the place for now, but after her heart attack, I think the less she has to worry about, the better."

"We want your input of course," Naru said. "But right now, if we want to avoid selling the place, our choices are to start advertising that this is a women's form to bring in new tenants; to turn it into an apartment house, or try to turn it into a hotel with the hot spring. Whichever way we go, there will be changes."

"So, any thoughts?" Keitaro asked.

"I would like it to stay a woman's dorm," Shinobu said brightly.

"Apartment," Kitsune said. "Preferably co-ed."

"Hotel" Kanako said, flatly. _I can finally get my wish to run a ryokan with my brother_.

The three glared at each other.

_Of course_, Naru thought. "As we see it, the inconveniences for each are… Dorm, once those of you here are no longer students, we'd have to ask you to make plans for after. Also, we'd have to ask you keep the noise level down to avoid disturbing other residents. Apartment, it wouldn't be women only plus Keitaro. If men get accepted as renters, you'd be sharing the floor with them. Also, you'd have to keep the noise level down to avoid disturbing the other residents. Hotel, I worry about trying that because it's based on service and available rooms, so we might have to deal with raising rent or having you work here to cut down on overhead. Also, you'd-"

"We know," Kitsune interrupted. "We'd have to keep the noise level down to avoid disturbing the other guests."

Naru sighed. "Just please be on your best behavior."

Kitsune smirked. "Hey, we know. Trust us. You don't have to worry."

Naru slapped her hands down on the table. "IT'S _BECAUSE I KNOW YOU THAT I'M WORRIED IN THE FIRST PLACE!_"

Keitaro cleared his throat. "Like Naru said, we're not kicking anybody out. But since whatever way we go is going to mean big changes, we'd like you think of your future and offer your input based on where you might like to wind up."

Naru had to excuse herself then to hurry to the bathroom. Keitaro followed soon after. The girls looked at each other, hesitantly.

Haruka broke the silence. "I must say, I didn't expect this. But they are right. They need to plan out their future and so do you."

Motoko sighed unhappily. She still bore a mistrust of men, aside from Keitaro, and the thought it could become co-ed left her irrationally feeling betrayed. "You realize what this means."

"Yeah," Kitsune said, somberly. That turned into a wide grin. "We need to plan for a wild party!"

"Woo!" Su cheered.

"Well, we don't have to reach our plans right away," Shinobu said. "So planning a going away party could be fun. Then we could work with Naru on our plans for when he gets back." Remembering her discussion with Haruka back before Naru ran away, she turned to the older woman. "Do you think, sen- I mean, Keitaro would like a dog? I was just remembering."

Haruka smiled, remembering. "You mean a German Shepherd like Schatzi? I think he might like that."

Sara, who had been sitting sullenly the whole time, perked up. "Well, it might be nice to have a dog around Hinata. The dork will be around most of the time once he gets back."

Haruka nodded. "It would be a more stable environment than they've had, anyway. It could work, as long as nobody is allergic."

Motoko broke out of her funk a little. "It'd definitely be better than the time Su tried getting that cat."

Shinobu sweatdropped. "That was… weird."

"What's wrong with him?" Su asked.

.

.

Keitaro and Naru stared uneasily at the giant ghost cat sitting huddled at the kotatsu. "It's not even plugged in, dammit!" Keitaro snapped.

The cat ignored them and reached for the temperature control.

.

.

**Author's Notes **

"She crossed herself." Nyamo as an adult is a blank slate. Because she didn't speak Japanese in the manga, we know little about her or her thoughts. But that's not much to do anything with. Since I'm modeling Pararakelse on places like Guam and Fiji, and since Naru purchased her cross necklace there, I'm acting on the assumption that Christianity has an influence on the island.

"We don't feel like we have to stay together." Is Makie ignorant of what happened? Or just blinded by wishful thinking? We'll see.

"Giant ghost cat." I've always loved _Urusei Yatsura_ and like throwing in Easter eggs. _Kotatsu-neko _was one of the minor characters. "Barriers" isn't a crossover, but I do like to imagine the characters of different anime living near to each other and possibly bumping into each other.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven: **_Departure_

**Preliminary Notes: **I've been adding in OCs because it occurs to me that in the manga, we never really saw the major characters' lives outside of each other. But with college, jobs, work, etc., there are probably many places where they would have friends and colleagues.

_._

_._

"_Attention! All Nippon Airways flight 205 to Singapore will be departing on time, at 7:45pm. Will all passengers please head to gate 12. All Nippon Airways Flight 205 to Singapore will be departing on time._" The massive 747 loomed in the night on the other side of the gate windows.

Keitaro looked at his watch. 7:30pm. It was pushing it, but he wanted every last minute with his wife and unborn child before he boarded the plane.

"I can't believe everything went through," he said. But it had. He was going to be a graduate student at the beginning of the academic year. He had until then to finish his part of the dig and turn it over to Artyom. "At least this time we don't have any weird stuff going on."

Naru tried to give a brave smile for Keitaro. _I won't cry until he's gone. I have to be brave for him! _"It would have been nice if we had known about the layover option when we were afraid you were going to miss your deadline to register for Todai, wouldn't it?"

Keitaro smiled at the memory. "We did a lot of crazy running around back in those days, didn't we? And all that time, there was an easier solution. It might have been nice if Mutsumi told us about it at the time."

Naru laughed, placing her hand on her abdomen. "Yes, she sure does omit crucial information. Of course spending twelve hours on the plane instead of eight would be rough in a different way." She hesitated. "Keitaro, there's something I want to say, but I'm afraid to. I don't want to go back to our bad old days of fighting." She subconsciously ground her toe into the carpet.

"Well, please, go ahead Naru," he said gently. "I'd rather you said it instead of wishing you said it after I was gone."

Naru swallowed nervously. "If you should run into Saito, please remember my fears. You're so nice to people that women can't help falling in love with you. I mean look at all of us here at Hinata House. I'm just afraid that she's going to try to take advantage of it. I'm not saying I doubt your faithfulness to me," she added hastily, "but I think she's more devious than you think, and you're so trusting—I just want you to be careful." She turned away miserably. _I __**always**_ _say the wrong things or at the wrong time! He's going to think I don't trust him!_ "I'm sorry. That didn't sound like an accusation in my head."

"Hey, hey, Naru…" Keitaro said gently. "I'm not mad or hurt." He really wasn't. Their reconciliation had taught him that if she spoke about a concern before she got angry, she wasn't criticizing him. _I wish I realized that earlier_. "Our fight last month showed me that I _can_ be clueless about what other women feel towards me. If you say you're worried about her, I'll be careful. She's a colleague. So you know I have to work with her. But I can at least keep an appropriate distance."

He hoped that came across as he intended. While it was early days yet, Naru was responding well to her secret appointments, so it was easier to talk without hurt feelings and fights.

Naru smiled with relief. _He's not mad!_ "Thank you. Okay, I let the Cha family know you're coming. You better watch out. If they don't think you're eating right, you can expect them to get involved whether you want it or not. Nyamo is supposed to meet you at the airport. Do you need me to arrange anything?"

"No, I think I'm good. We just need to put this current dig to bed and transfer things over to Artyom and Dr. Cha. Then I'll be home." He smiled. "Hopefully by the time I finish my Masters, we'll have a good idea on what we want to do with our family—however many kids we happen to have by then." He gave her a mock lewd leer and his hand moved lower down her back then was appropriate in public.

"You perverted kappa," she smiled back leeringly. "I'm surprised you have any strength left to even _think_ about that after how… active… you were during the last month."

"Auuuu… We're standing right here, you guys!" Shinobu protested.

Naru, having forgotten that fact, blushed scarlet.

"_This is the final boarding call for All Nippon Airways flight 205 to Singapore. All passangers should proceed to the gateway._"

"Well, this is it," Keitaro smiled. "I'll see you in two or three weeks, I hope. I love you…" He embraced her. "Don't forget to keep going to your appointments and taking your meds."

"I won't forget." Out of time, Naru gripped him tight and mashed her lips against his. Since there was no other way to show it—without getting arrested for indecency, anyway—she made the kiss count for all she was worth. "I love you, Keitaro," she whispered as they separated and Keitaro gasped for breath, "Forever and a day."

And then he was gone, down the ramp and out of sight. She waited until the plane left the gate and moved out of the terminal lights, headed across the airfield for the runways. A tear formed in her eye. _Well, at least I kept my promise… at least he didn't have to leave seeing me crying._

She felt a gentle arm around her. "Hey Naru," Kitsune said gently. "Do you need more time?"

Naru looked up, tearfully. _It will be about seven hours before he lands. _She calculated. _Then another four to Pararakelse. I should get some sleep before he checks in_. "No, I'm ready to go."

Kitsune led her back to the others, who swarmed her with embraces and consolations.

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Keitaro settled in for the flight, as well as he could for Coach at any rate. With the time zone changes, he'd be getting into Pararakelse at around 10am local time. He wanted to get back home to Naru as quickly as possible, so he needed to hit the ground running.

He just hoped that idiotic uprising didn't foul things up…

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Arriving home, they were greeted by the new addition to Hinata House, a German Shepherd puppy, who ran up to Naru, wagging his tail joyously. Naru patted his head and smiled—the smile turning into a wince as the puppy began gnawing on her fingers—remembering how Keitaro had reacted to the gift.

_They had been gathered in the tearoom with everyone gathered around Keitaro. There had been plenty to eat and drink (non-alcoholic except for those smuggling in their own flasks). Then Haruka and Shinobu slipped out while Keitaro cut the cake. They came back with a large box, which had something thumping around inside. Keitaro, oblivious as usual, looked up at it in surprise._

_Haruka cleared her throat. "The last several years have been really busy for you. But once you get back, things will be a lot more stable. So, we thought that a return of a memory of your childhood might finally be something to handle."_

"_Oh?" Keitaro smiled, wondering what it could be. He reached for the box and began to lift the lid, jumping back as a black and silver shape streaked towards him. The shock turned into a surprised laugh as the shape began sloppily licking his face. He looked up at Haruka and smiled. "You remembered Schatzi." He began scratching the dog's head._

"_Umm," Shinobu said shyly, "since you're going back to Pararakelse, we thought he could symbolize our waiting for you to return. So we named him __**Hachiko**__."_

_The puppy, losing interest, wandered off, sniffing under the tables for dropped food._

"_Yeah, good name there," Kitsune cracked good naturedly. Kuro, sitting on Kanako's lap, poofed up and dug his claws into her leg, hissing._

"_It could be," Sara said, clicking her tongue to get the dog's attention. "I always figured the dog eventually gave up and went home every night to get something to eat." She pulled a piece of chicken off of a skewer and held it close to the ground. Hachiko came running over, practically swallowing her fingers in his eagerness._

"_Looks like you made a friend, Sara," Keitaro smiled._

Hachiko had, too. Sara had been happy to help train him. When she was with the dog, her surly attitude vanished.

"Well," Naru said to the other girls, "I better get some sleep." She looked at her watch—the one Keitaro had given her for Christmas all those years ago. "I can get in maybe six hours before he lands in Singapore. Then I need to get to Tokyo for the appointment."

"I'll walk Hachi!" Sara volunteered.

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"I had a wonderful time, Emori!" Nyamo said in a delighted tone to the shy young soldier. With the final curfew lifted, her boyfriend was had been able to get a twelve hour liberty from the unit. The two of them had spent it going to lunch, the beach, dinner, and out dancing. "I wish you could get another pass tomorrow." She was tempted to wish for more things but she didn't feel right about asking him to stay overnight. Besides, it was 10:30pm, and Emori had to be back on base in half an hour. So she settled for wishing he would finally propose to her.

"I wish I could too, Nyam," that was his pet name for her. "But tomorrow we have to start searching the edges around Desert of Death for the rebels. Wouldn't do for the Captain to be AWOL after all."

"You better be careful out there Em." She kissed him gently. "I want you coming back!"

"You be careful too. I think your co-workers are nuts going out there." _They're nuts anyway. I wish she'd give that dig up. It's crazy to be out there with the leeches and cobras, let alone rebels. _He resolved to make sure there were none left to endanger her.

They kissed again, and when they finally separated, Emori had twenty minutes to get back to base.

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Naru was lying down on her futon, feet elevated (after frequent trips to the bathroom and morning sickness, swollen feet were the number three negative effect of pregnancy on her list) when Sara and Kitsune entered. Hachi ran over to Naru. "Floor," Naru ordered. Hachi got off the futon and sat next to it while Naru petted him. Mutsumi had advised them to start training the dog so he didn't expect to be treated like a human and get jealous when the baby arrived.

"So, how ya feeling?" Kitsune asked gently as Sara got out a brush and went to work on Hachi's coat.

"Okay, I guess. I'm not thrilled about being separated, but I've endured it before and it won't be as long as past separations."

Kitsune sat on the urge to make a crude joke. Even she could tell this wasn't the time for it. So she just sat next to her. "But you're worried." She didn't want to mention the name but…

"You mean Saito?" Naru sighed. "Well, I trust Keitaro to want to do the right thing. But he is a man and I won't be with him. That's why these last few weeks I've been encouraging him to-" she broke off, blushing, remembering Sara was in the room.

"You think a guy can't help himself?" Kitsune asked, remembering the story she was told about Su showing Naru Keitaro's porn mag. Naru's response had apparently been _He's a guy isn't he?_ If she still thought guys were automatically hardwired that way, it could be trouble.

"No, it's not that. I feel I can trust him now that he wants to be with me and not to deliberately be unfaithful. It's just that Keitaro does try to help the girls. So, if Saito uses her vulnerable act when he is weak and lonely… she might do something he would later regret." She placed her hand on her abdomen. _Would I be able to forgive that? I hope so. I hope more that I never have to find out._

"It can be rough on a guy," Kitsune conceded, painfully remembering all the times she teased Keitaro. "But Keitaro has grown into a responsible man since he first came here."

"I know. I'm just feeling insecure right now. The thing is, if he hadn't met me, this Saito woman would have been compatible. She is beautiful and smart, and she's working on a Masters in Archaeology. So she doesn't roll her eyes when he goes on and on about an inscription. Sometimes I just look at my flaws and think, _what do I have to compete with that_?"

"Hey, can I say something?" Sara suddenly interjected. "The dork loves you, and you're the mother of his baby. I think that is going to matter more to him that jumping into… BED!"

Naru and Kitsune sweatdropped at her lack of tact.

"Get into bed," Sara said, pointing to the corner. Hachi, who had been trying to sneak onto the futon again, whined and looked at Sara pleadingly.

Naru facefaulted.

"Anyway," Sara continued, picking Hachi up and putting him in his bed, "If you're worried that the dork might be tempted when he's far away, why not keep on calling him? Let him know that you care about him, and keep him updated on the baby?"

Kitsune smiled. Sara had been acting out of line lately, but behind her _Meh, whatever_ attitude, she cared more than she let on.

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Having done all the paperwork he could stand for the evening, Keitaro eased back in his seat—or at least as much as flying Coach would allow. Wearily, he looked at his watch. It would be at least four hours more before he landed in Singapore. Then, counting layovers, probably 5 or 6 more before he was out of the plane on Pararakelse.

Before catching a nap, he pulled a picture out of his notes. It was Naru sitting in her room, wearing a summer dress. She had her hands on her abdomen, her fingers curved to shape a heart. On the picture, she had written, _We both love you_.

Keitaro smiled, hoping the handoff would be over quick and trouble free so he could soon be on his way back to her.

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Makie surveyed her bungalow. It was more spacious than her old place. It was furnished and spacious—her old apartment in Tokyo would easily fit inside—and now it was ready to receive company. The question was, how to decorate the place to be receptive to the visitor she most wanted here without looking aggressive. _It's unfair that we can't go after men the way they go after us._

Nyamo's disapproving expression appeared in her mind then. _You're not going to do something stupid? _it seemed to say. It frustrated her that Nyamo couldn't understand that Senpai's marriage was dead. That woman threw him out of the house after all! She knew she could help Keitaro, help him break free, be the woman he needed.

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**Author's Notes**

"Flight 205 to Singapore". While in the first arc involving Pararakelse, we're told there's only one flight a day to Japan, we later see that Nyamo flies back on a Singapore flight. I'm running with this to say there are other ways to get to and from, but they involve layovers. Also, that everybody was too panicky to ask if there was a flight with layovers. Apparently (according to Google) it takes about 7-7.5 hours to fly there and there are about 13 flights a day. I've arbitrarily decided it takes 4 hours from Singpore to Pararakelse based on an eyeball approximation of the distance shown on a map to the International Date Line. So I guess, misusing the Pythagorean Theorem, it takes 8 hours to fly direct to Japan. The weird thing is, apparently Pararakelse is two hours (and one day) behind Japan, but Molmol is 5 hours ahead (on the same day as Japan) if I read the time zone map right. ( . /revision/latest?cb=20100830090050)

I don't advocate giving animals as a gift in real life, because they often get wound up being taken to the pound. But in anime and manga, these problems never come up. The referenced conversation was in my previous story, _Forever And A Day_.

"Yeah, good name there." The story of Hachiko was of a faithful dog who waited for his master to get off of the train after work. One day the master died and never came home. But the dog went to the station every evening to wait until it died. He's a symbol for loyalty and faithfulness.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve: **_When Plans Go Awry_

**Preliminary Notes:** _Okay, this chapter dives into the stigma mental and emotional illness has in Japan. I hope the readers will realize that the views expressed by some characters in this chapter are __**not**_ _my personal views. This stigma is one of the barriers that gave this fanfic its title_.

_Also, a lot of Russian profanity._

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Kanako, Motoko, Shinobu, and Su sat in the attic early the next morning. "So," Kanako said, as unofficial leader of the Secret Hinata Emergency Council. "Any of you know about this Tokyo appointment she mentioned last night?"

The others shook their heads. "All I know," Shinobu said, "is that she sees this Dr. Juse in Hinata City for her obstetrics. I don't know why she'd be going into Tokyo. Unless-" A thought struck her. "You don't think she's having difficulties with her pregnancy, do you? Auuu! What if she miscarries?"

"I don't think so, Shinobu. Why would she want to keep that from us?" Motoko asked. She pondered it for a moment. "Maybe," she said, joining in on the jump to conclusions, "she's afraid that if she loses the baby, her marriage will fall apart?"

"Honestly," Kanako growled. "I don't know why she thinks she has to hide stuff from us. Why doesn't she trust us? Oh, Su! Did you add a listening device to the Naru Tracker yet?"

"Nope," Su looked up from her banana. "I'm still having trouble making it small enough not to be noticed. But I made a lot of regular ones we can use. She keeps accidentally breaking them, so I go through a lot. I won't be able to follow her today. I have to work overtime today." She snapped her fingers. "That reminds me, I need to volunteer to clean up in the Manpan Research and Development department. I need more electronic supplies." She brightened as if struck by an idea. "Maybe I can have my Stealth Mechatama follow her!"

"Su!" Motoko protested. "What did I say to you last night?"

"You said, 'does this skirt make my butt look big? I need to start thinking about dating aga-'"

"I'll go along with her," Motoko volunteered, hastily clamping her hand over Su's mouth. "I have some errands I can't put off any longer." _Besides, I promised myself I'd be her retainer. I'll protect her and the baby_.

"Auuu, poor Naru!" Shinobu moaned. "Why does she have to go through all of this?"

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"Poor Naru" was awake and cheerfully talking on the phone, unaware of the hardships she was supposed to be going through. While it was only eight in the morning here, it was ten AM the next day in Pararakelse, and Keitaro has just landed. "So, how was the flight?"

"Long and painful," Keitaro said with a rueful laugh. But I got a few hours sleep in. How are you doing with Hachi?"

Now it was Naru's turn to laugh ruefully. "He likes to chew on fingers and keeps trying to sleep on the futon. Sara's good at training him though. I arranged the suitcase where the crib will go so he'll be used to that space tied up. Hopefully he won't be jealous when the baby comes." She hesitated. "How do things look over there with their battle? Is everything okay?"

"Well, I'm walking across the tarmac, so there's not much to see. I see what looks like a burnt out truck near the fence. But not much else."

"Well, be careful out there," Naru said, concern in her voice. "The baby and I want you back safely."

"I will Naru. I don't plan on doing anything outside of the dig and the paperwork." He hoped his voice was reassuring. The news in Tokyo had been that ten percent of the country's military had mutinied. That sounded huge until you realized—as Nyamo pointed out—that the entire military was 3500 men under arms. Estimates were that only less than a hundred rebels were left unaccounted for. "Well, I need to go. I'm going to have to go through customs now."

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The first thing Keitaro noticed once he was standing in line for customs were signs in English, Japanese, Indonesian, and the local language that, due to an outbreak, all visitors to the island had to have their MMR shots up to date. That made him realize another near miss. _If Grandma didn't have her heart attack, we would have been here for the outbreak. Naru probably would have gotten her immunization, not knowing she was pregnant. She probably would lost the baby._

Getting through customs surprised him, compared to the past. Pararakelse had a 3500 man army, but it almost seemed like most of them were at or around the airport. Soldiers stood at the entrance and exits and in the streets, and some were in charge of the screening luggage.

"What is the purpose of bringing this into the country?" a sergeant asked, holding up Keitaro's satellite phone.

"I'm an archaeologist," Keitaro said politely. It was never wise to antagonize a man with a Daewoo K2 rifle strapped to his back after all. "I use it to communicate with civilization when we're digging out in the desert. It's always been all right before."

"Things aren't like they were before," the sergeant growled. He pulled out a set of forms. "We need to know the particulars about the device, the carrier, the serial number, phone number…" he rattled off a long list of requirements. "We think some rebel supporters were calling in from outside the country to get around restrictions."

Keitaro sweatdropped, hoping his call to Nyamo wasn't classified as _rebel support_. But apparently not, as they eventually cleared him through.

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Naru looked through her closet, trying to pick out an outfit to wear. Finally settling for a blouse and slacks, she laid it out on the futon. Hachi was over in a flash, snuffling about.

"Ick! No! I don't want dog slobber on my clothes!" She gently nudged him away. But he came back forcefully, sniffing a certain spot on the blouse. "What is it, boy?"

The dog gave the blouse a nip and began crunching loudly. "Ack!" Naru gasped, envisioning the dog choking on something. "Put it down! Drop it!" She managed to fish something small and electronic out of his mouth. She sweatdropped. Then, getting out a magnifying glass, she went over her clothing very carefully.

She found two more on her blouse and one in the waistband of her panties. "Dammit Su," she growled. They were obviously from the younger woman's tracker. She grabbed a pair of scissors and snipped the offending objects. Then she slipped them in her pocket. Better to have control over the ones she knew existed than to have them sneak new ones onto her person.

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As Nyamo drove her battered Land Cruiser through town, Keitaro got to see some of the worst damage. "It's good you and Naru got out before this all happened. Like I told you, the first night was the worst. Makie's house was destroyed. All foreigners were basically under house arrest for a week. The day after it was lifted, the military police came by. They wanted to know about your call."

"I'm sorry," Keitaro said, wincing. "We were worried about everybody. It never occurred to me that you'd be in trouble for it."

_Sometimes it never occurs to you that something is trouble_, she thought. _And that's why Makie never gives up_, she thought. Aloud, she said, "It's okay. I wasn't arrested or anything. They just were very thorough in doing a background check before I could go home. Luckily Emori was above reproach and could vouch for me."

She slowed as they came to an intersection. Soldiers were directing traffic, K2 and M16 rifles at the ready. Nyamo sighed in relief as they were waved through.

"Is there still a threat?" Keitaro asked.

"Everything is… tense… right now." Nyamo said, sighing. "This kind of thing isn't supposed to happen here. So everyone is worried about how many traitors got away undetected and if they'll try again. What you're seeing is because of that."

"It looks like a police state."

Nyamo made an annoyed click with her tongue. It was one thing to criticize what was wrong with one's country. It was another to listen to someone from another country criticize it. "It's not as bad as it was. Hopefully, we'll be back to the way things were soon," she said, directing her glare at traffic instead of him.

_She's come a long ways from the shy girl I knew the first time I was here,_ Keitaro thought. "So," he said, changing the subject. "Do I need to find a new place while I'm here?"

"No, your neighborhood was left alone. I can either let you drop your stuff off before we head over, or I can give you time to rest before you go to the Institute. Artyom does want to get moving soon. This year's cyclone season is supposed to be be heavier than normal. He wants to get the uncovered parts finished before then."

Keitaro looked at his watch. Close to eleven, locally. "Well, I'd like to get back to Naru with fewer delays. So let's just drop the stuff off and go." He smiled. "After all, if the coffee is the same kind of sludge as it was before I left, it ought to keep me awake."

Nyamo, maker of that 'kind of sludge,' sweatdropped.

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Naru worked her way down the stairs to the bus stop. _When I go into labor, I hope it doesn't happen while I'm walking up or down these things_. It's true there was a driveway, but it wasn't convenient. At least nobody tried to follow her when she left. _Well,_ she thought, fingering the trackers she discovered, _If they do, I can just drop one of these on a bus._

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she warily looked back. It wasn't that she disliked the company. It was just that _this _appointment was one they wouldn't understand. It wouldn't be like that huge misunderstanding they had over divorce last month. This was something she deliberately was doing. and, if they found out, they'd probably never respect her again.

But, it looked like nobody was coming down the stairs, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hello, Naru," Motoko said, emerging from the shadows.

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Shinobu crept up the stairs from the kitchen, heart pounding. She felt awful about what she was going to do. But, if the baby was in danger, they needed to find evidence so Mutsumi would finally _do _something. Reaching the second floor, she looked around wildly. _Calm down!_ she told herself. Ema was at cram school, Sara had gone out. Haruka and Seta were at Todai. Kitsune and Mutsumi were running the tea shop. Su was at work, Motoko was with Naru. And Kanako was part of the plot. Cautiously, she slid open the door. _Okay. Be brave! There's nobody around to discover me!_

A black and silver shape exploded at her. "WOOF! WOOF!"

Shinobu fell backwards, eyes wide, as the puppy crashed into her and began licking her face. She lay still, only moving her fingers to pet Hachi, waiting to hear commotion from the tea room. After a few minutes, it was clear nobody was coming. Breathing again, she slowly got to her feet, and began looking around.

Naru was a much better housekeeper than she had been as a high school student. The futon was put away. Everything was organized and in its place. That made searching easier. Everything important would be in closets or above the reach of Hachi… who was happily following her around.

A stack of papers and pamphlets… nothing unusual there. They were about healthy pregnancies. Idly, she picked up a well thumbed pamphlet and glanced at it… _A Couple's Guide: Pregnancy and Sexual Interc- Ick! _Blushing furiously, she dropped it like it was on fire.

Medicines, nothing of note there. Aspirin. Benatura, Folic Acid.

Trash can (eww), nothing out of the ordinary, except it was out of dog reach.

It wasn't until she checked the closets, that she found a hard cylinder in a sock under the stacked futon. Pushing aside the crude comments Kitsune would have made in speculation, she fished it it out. It was a container with a number of capsules in it. The label read SERTRALINE.

That didn't mean anything to Shinobu, but she wrote it down and carefully returned it to the sock, and slipped it back under the futon… which promptly collapsed on top of her.

Hachi barked happily at the game, pouncing on the futon.

"Auuuuu!"

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Naru and Motoko entered the Ward Office, Welfare Division. It was a bustling place, filled with men and women with varying degrees of patience. Spotting a glasses wearing woman dressed in a black turtleneck and white pants, they walked over. The woman—she had to be younger than Shinobu—looked up.

"May I help you?"

Naru looked at a sheet of paper. "I need to apply for the… Childbirth and Childcare Lump-sum Grant?"

"You will want to go up to the third floor, Desk…" she paused to check, seventeen. Is there anything else?"

"Yes," Motoko added. "I need to renew my sword license."

The young woman sweatdropped, noticing her long case strapped to her back. "Isn't that something the NBTHK branch takes care of?"

Motoko glared. "This isn't for a collector's piece. This is for the defense of Japan!"

"Motoko," Naru sighed, rubbing her temples. "Let's not create a scene…" The woman was going through the Pol- section of the directory. _Ugh. Another place I can never show my face at again._

Motoko slapped her hand down on the countertop. "Is this how civil servants treat people? I'm going to file a complaint. What's your name? Let me see your name tag."

Sighing the young woman showed her ID badge: _Lucy Kimiko Akie Airi Shiori Rinne Yoshiho Chihoko Ayano Fumika Chitose Sanae Mikiko Ichika Yukino Reina Eri Ai Tamiko Chikage Emilia Julia Shizue Erina Chisa Yumeka Natsuki Ranran Rieko Setsuri Chikako Azumi Marina Hideko Chiaki Misaki Naomi Campbell Miku Yuka Masako Sachiko Nana Mutsumi Haruka Yuna Shimako Yukie Rin Sakura Kanna Wakana Hazuki Honami Ruri Mihane Momoka Himari Nozomi Futaba Mayuyu… (continues on back)… Yamagami_

Motoko blinked. "What?"

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The Joint Research Institute sounded impressive, but the reality was a cooperation of Todai and the Pararakelsen department of education set up in an old colonial era building. Externally, it had classical lines but was showing its age. But inside—being large and solid—it had plenty of space to study and store artifacts. It was also close to the government district and had a beautiful view of the harbor. Usually, these things were assets.

Apparently not so much recently. The street had rubble filled holes cordoned off, and the facade facing the street was pockmarked with bullets and shell fragments. Looking out the window facing the harbor, a heavily listing freighter, flying a Dutch flag, was being moved by tugboat to a large ship, also flying a Dutch flag. Through binoculars, Keitaro could make out _Mighty Servant 2_ on the hull.

"These idiots," Artyom explained, waving a _Belomorkanal _around, "decide to fire rounds at Capitol building to kill government. Most of them went wild. One landed across street, _suka blyat_! Later, rebels try to take police station but got stopped. By this time, we are barricading door and taking cover until Military Police show up and tell everyone to go home and everyone from overseas not to leave house until told okay. We were there a week! _Sukin sin!_ Two days after starts, some _grebanyy debil_ fires a _Carl Gustav_, almost from back yard, at that freighter in the harbor, almost sinks it. _Chertovski pizdy_!"

In the next room, Nyamo and Makie—who had been involuntarily learning bits of barracks style Russian from Artyom—blushed furiously.

"But everyone is okay? Crew and families?"

"Da, da. Nobody killed or seriously hurt. Nyamo got some friends and helped us on days they could go out. I understand Port Oxley had some two hundred civilians killed though." He puffed his cigarette and looked out the door. "Makie was lucky." He crossed himself, though he did it differently than how Nyamo did.

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Shinobu hovered over Kanako's shoulder—much to Kanako's annoyance—as she typed on the computer. The two tolerated each other, but had never been close. But they were allies in protecting Naru and the baby.

"Okay," Kanako muttered. "Here it is… sertraline, an SSRI drug, whatever that is, recently approved for use in Japan. Used to… ah here it is… used to treat depression, panic attacks, obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, social anxiety disorder, and a severe form of premenstrual syndrome."

Shinobu shivered. "Aren't those things signs of…" she couldn't say it aloud. _Being crazy?_ It couldn't be! The thought of Naru locked up in an asylum with Keitaro left all alone caring for the baby—unless the baby was born crazy too!

"Auuuu! Why does this have to happen to her? She seemed so happy lately."

"I can't believe it. I just don't think Naru would be so weak," Kanako said. "If she is, we just need to help her be strong and tough it out until she feels better!" She scrolled further down, and read aloud, "the use of SSRIs in the first trimester of pregnancy may be associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular and/or other congenital malformations; however, this association has not been clearly established." She looked up in alarm. "What the hell? She's putting the baby at risk with that stuff? Maybe nobody told her about the danger. We should throw it out to protect her!"

"No…" Shinobu said hesitantly, reluctant to be identified as the one snooping. "We might need it to prove to Mutsumi that something is wrong."

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.

Naru sighed, waiting for Motoko, checking her watch. Yes, she _did_ have to go to apply for the grant, but that was something she could do any time. She was here now mainly as a cover story after Motoko showed up unexpectedly. But now she was in danger of missing the real appointment. And there seemed to be no sign that Motoko's paperwork was going to end in the near future.

"So, proof that you joined a relevant club?" the clerk droned.

Motoko held out the form confirming she was from the _Shinmei-ryu _school.

"Took the class, and passed the exam?"

"That goes along with being part of the school, doesn't it?"

"Doctor's note proving mental fitness and absence of drug abuse?"

Sighing, Motoko passed it over.

"Permit to take training?"

_Did you not see the first form? _"Yes."

"Proof of interview with the police as why you need a sword?"

"Yes."

"Proof of the review of your criminal history, sword possession record, employment, involvement with organized crime groups, personal debt and relationships with friends, family and neighbors?"

Motoko passed over a thick folder. The clerk lifted it, staggering under the weight.

"Completion of training and test?"

"Yes." _I seriously need to join the National Sword Association…_

"Approved sword safe, inspected by police?"

_What the hell?_ Naru wondered. _I don't remember the police ever coming by to inspect anything._

"Proof that you passed an additional background review?"

Naru gave up and snuck out.

.

.

The afternoon winding down, Keitaro finished the planning session. Time to head home. Grabbing his satchel, he stood up. _Time to get home and call Naru_.

"Senpai?"

Turning, he saw Makie, standing there in slightly too short khaki shorts and a light t-shirt, demurely looking downward. "It's good to see you back."

_Dammit, Makie,_ Nyamo scowled. Being friends with the older woman, she knew Makie was never shy about anything. _Don't tell me you're starting already? I knew I should have warned Keitaro when I picked him up._

"Err, hello- Saito-san," he said, catching himself before he could call her _Makie_. While he still couldn't think of her as a home wrecker, he thought it best to handle her in a way he wouldn't have to worry about Naru misinterpreting whatever situation he wound up in. "I'm glad you got out of danger unhurt."

Makie smiled. "I heard you'll be going on to graduate school. I think that's great. I can tell you what kind of things to watch out for."

"That would be helpful," Keitaro said, intrigued. "I'd like things to go smoothly once I'm back in Japan."

"Great! I have some things I need to move to my new place. I can tell you all about it this evening. See you around seven." She cheerfully handed him her address, grabbed her purse and headed out.

_Dammit, Keitaro_, Nyamo thought, facepalming. _You have to be more assertive._

"Hey! Wait a…" He sighed, realizing he had been outmaneuvered. But he couldn't just leave her stranded after she thought he accepted. Sighing he picked up his phone. Naru's phone went straight to voicemail. Puzzled, he checked his watch. 5pm. That meant it was 3pm, yesterday in Japan. _She's probably at her appointment now… and probably still will be when I have to be there_. There was one other option.

Heading back to his desk, he picked up the landline and began to dial.

.

.

"What the hell do you mean you lost her?" Kanako shrieked over the phone.

"If Naru's really gone crazy, we have to find her before she hurts herself!" Shinobu moaned in the background.

_Crazy?_ Motoko wondered. "Hey! I didn't expect her to run off while I was filling out my forms," she snapped, feeling guilty after promising to protect Naru and the baby. "Anyway, she must have found the trackers. I found them in a trash can in the reception area."

"Okay, I'm sorry for overreacting Motoko," Kanako said, forcing herself to calm down. "I'm just worried right now. Maybe Su has a backup we can use."

"Okay, I can call her." Sighing, Motoko hung up and called Su.

.

.

Dr. Naoko Nakahara listened patiently as Naru told her of her last week. "So far, you seem to be responding to your medication well so far, and you seem to be dealing with your husband's trip in a balanced manner. I'm sensing some apprehension in your tone though."

Naru blushed. "I snuck out while a friend was filling out paperwork. I am afraid that my friends won't understand my… problem."

"I see," Dr. Nakahara said. "Have you considered having your friend Mutsumi, and your husband ease the way for you to seek their support?"

Naru made a face. "I guess I'm afraid of being a burden on them."

Dr. Nakahara gently touched her shoulder. "Letting people you know about something like this is never easy. But if you can find people you can trust to listen and support you, that will do a good deal to help you from feeling abandoned."

Dr. Nakahara kept her face and tone calm, but inside she winced at Naru's apprehensive expression. Support of family and friends were important, but the Japanese attitudes made it harder to come forward to seek that support at the best of times. _At least her husband and her friend in medicine are helping her. As for the others… _There was always bias in the accounts told by patients, but if half of what Naru had told her was true, all the residents of this Hinata House could use sessions themself.

"So, Naru, are there any other things bothering you?"

"Well… I _do_ trust my husband of course," Naru said hesitantly. "But there is a woman who is after him. I've warned him about it of course. I'm just not sure he really thinks she's a danger. So, I'm afraid she'll blindside him."

.

.

Makie arranged the table. It hadn't been easy to get the supplies, but she had gotten some _Kokuryu Daiginjo_ sake and had a tempura pot heating with some quality seafood and vegetables. She had spent 20 minutes worrying about the lightning… enough to be romantic, not enough to seem seductive. Her yukata was classy, designed to flatter her figure without being too revealing. Her makeup was light, used to accent her best features.

She checked her watch. Five minutes to go. Studying herself in the mirror, she hoped her appearance would be pleasing to him without looking promiscuous. Hesitating, she stepped into the hall and closed the door to her bedroom. She desired Keitaro greatly, but she did not want to move too quickly and make him see her as a loose woman. For a moment, she regretted that he would not be her first. _It can't be helped now,_ she thought sadly. _My only two times—senpai Ichiro, when I was 15 and Medoru the teacher's assistant when I was 19–only wanted to use me. But Keitaro senpai will be different!_

Those guides had told her it was best to be dating exclusively for at least a month before bringing sex into the relationship, and she would let him take the initiative there. She wondered if they should wait for the divorce before she allowed it. _But right now, I just want him to know that I'll love him and stand at his side even though his wife is so cruel to him._

A rumbling of a truck coming to a stop told her she had run out of time. Hurrying for the door, she tried to remember the greeting she had prepared, but it had gone out of her head.

There was a knock at the door. Trembling, she counted to five, then opened the door… and froze. Keitaro stood there with five members of the digging crew, a deuce and a half parked out in the street.

Makie sweatdropped.

"Hey, Saito-san," Keitaro said cheerfully. "I figured I'd get some help so we could get you moved in quickly. Then we can go out for some piz… za…" His voice trailed off as he looked at her. "Umm, isn't it going to be hard to move stuff dressed like that?"

"Ah, yes…" she said, heart sinking. "Moving. I didn't expect you to bring a crew. I thought we could have dinner and talk and then move a few crates of replacement books."

"I see," Keitaro said, coolly. "Just the two of us? Alone? When I'm a married man?" He sighed. Until that moment, he had hoped Naru had been wrong. But her expression and appearance told him Makie wasn't interested in just a professional relationship or even just a friendship. And that meant he needed to permanently put some space between them. "Would those crates of books happen to be here already?"

Makie couldn't look him in the eye. With a sick feeling , she knew she had completely misread him and his relationship with his wife. "Keitaro, I-"

"I should go," he said, coldly. Turning around, he shrugged to the diggers. "_Pasensiya na kayo_. I'll cover your time. Let's grab some pizza and beer!" He didn't look back as they left.

Slumping down, Makie walked slowly into the house.

.

.

Naru collected her things and got to her feet, smiling. The sessions with Dr. Nakahara were always draining while in progress, but at the end, she left more prepared to face the conflicts. She stopped by the window to make her next appointment. Then, she opened the door to the main waiting room, and froze.

Motoko was sitting there waiting. Her eyes went from Naru to the sign identifying the wing she had come out from as the behavioral health wing. Naru cringed as Motoko's expression went from relief to having found her to a look of sadness and pity.

"Naru, shall we go?" Motoko's tone was maternal, and the look burned into Naru. A look that seemed to say, _I'm sorry for you_. A look that seemed to view her as a child who needed constant supervision.

Naru nodded, suddenly miserable, not trusting herself to speak.

They made the trip home in silence.

.

.

.

_**Author's Notes:**_

MMR: Mumps-Measles-Rubella vaccine. In _Forever and a Day _(FAAD), we learned that this vaccine can cause a miscarriage. So can the disease itself. Since Japan (at the time of the story at least) didn't include this in vaccination schedules, Naru would have been at risk.

"Cyclone" What we call hurricanes are known as typhoons in Japan, and cyclones near the equatorial Pacific

"It's true there was a driveway" At least according to Akamatsu's preliminary sketches. But in the manga, it never gets used or mentioned. Vehicles always pull up to the stairs. Hence it becomes "inconvenient."

"Benatura." The Japanese equivalent of Pepto-Bismol. I just pulled the name off the internet. If it has any adverse effects, I couldn't find any mention.

"SERTRALINE" (aka _Zoloft_) an antidepressant drug, that would have recently been approved for use in Japan at the time the story takes place (2006). The arguments over the effects on pregnancy are varied. I'm no pharmacist though. I settled on this one as one available in Japan and one considered "low risk" in pregnancy. As always, follow your doctor's advice, not my inadequate research.

"Childbirth and Childcare Lump-sum Grant." As I understand it, this reimburses women up to ¥420,000 (~$3,877 at the time of writing (2020)) for pregnancy and childbirth expenses. Later it would be paid directly to the clinics/hospitals.

"Sword license." As you might suspect, in real life you can't walk around like the Aoyamas do without getting your sword confiscated and destroyed. But, since the Akamatsu-verse involves a bunch of obviously fantastical elements, I adapted the bureaucracy from what someone in Japan has to go through to get a firearm. (Actual sword "licenses" involve certification of the blade, not a license to carry, and if you're going to transport one, it has to be in a secured case).

"NBTHK branch" Stands for "Nippon Bijutsu Token Hozon Kyokai: Society for the preservation of the Japanese Art Sword. Apparently, it's a license for culturally significant swords, and handled by the Department of Education.

"Going through the Pol- section." Originally, this read, "going through the 警 section" with 警 being the first kanji for "警察署" (_Keisatsusho_—police station, if the kanji don't show up). But I thought that would be too obscure for many readers to just leave to this notes section. So it was anglicized.

"Lucy Kimiko Akie Airi Shiori Rinne…" See the manga _Servant X Service_. (There's also an anime on Crunchyroll). The story behind her name is, the parents couldn't decide on a name for her, so they asked all their friends for suggestions. But they still couldn't decide—so they used _all_ the names on the list. Lucy became a civil servant to find and get revenge on the civil servant who allowed the name to go through the birth registry.

"_A Carl Gustav_" a Recoilless Rifle. In 1981, during the Falklands War, one was fired at a ship, almost sinking it.

The Mighty Servant 2 is a Dutch ship used to transport damaged ships to dry docks.

"Port Oxley". I needed a name for a city. My friend _Steeltemplar_ came up with one (along with the coup timetable used).

"though he did it differently" When making the sign of the Cross, Western Christians tend to go Up-down-left-right. Eastern ones tend to do it Up-down-right-left. Just some cultural flavor that Keitaro might notice without understanding why.

Shinobu, Kanako, and Motoko's attitudes reflect the common Japanese stereotypes of mental illness, which contributes to the reason those suffering seldom come forward. This is one of the reasons this fanfic is called _Barriers_. The three girls don't mean any harm, but they simply don't understand what mental illness is.

"_Pasensiya na kayo_" Tagalog that seems to translate roughly as "sorry, guys."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13:** _Why? Because It's None Of Your Damn Business! That's Why!_

Upon arriving home, Naru's nerves were a bit frayed. Now that Motoko had discovered where she went on those appointments, she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. With Keitaro unavailable, she wanted refuge with Mutsumi who already knew her secret. So, after retrieving Hachi from her room, she made a beeline for the tearoom, hoping to find privacy there.

That wasn't to be. When Naru slid the door open, she found Kanako and Shinobu sitting there, staring at her, the same look on their face that Motoko showed earlier: sadness and pity. Su was sitting at the next table, a bunch of bananas in front of her.

Naru sighed. _Dammit, they know!_ So much for the doctor's suggestion of having Mutsumi and Keitaro help prepare them to understand. Instinctively, she backed up towards the door, only to hear Motoko slide it shut.

"Naru, we need to talk," Motoko said softly.

"About?" Naru asked, warily.

"Yeah," Kitsune said, coming out of the storeroom and seeing her friend surrounded. "About what?" She walked over and placed herself in front of Naru. Teasing her on occasion was fun. Gossip was fun. But Naru looked rather unhappy, so it wasn't the time for either.

"Naru," Kanako began, softly, "we were worried about you when you started to disappear from where you were expected to be and started coming back from Tokyo instead of from Dr. Juse's office. We thought there might be a problem with the baby."

"No, the baby is fine," Naru said, relieved that they hadn't guessed. "There are just some things she referred me to in Tokyo."

"But what about the Sertraline?"

The relieved smile slipped from Naru's face. "You searched my room?"

Kanako looked at Shinobu, who flushed. "Umm, I came across them while I was cleaning your room."

"Unbelievable!" Naru scowled. It was a testimony to the Sertraline that she didn't want to slap Shinobu. But she still felt hurt and violated. "There is no way somebody would just 'come across' them. You had to be actively snooping."

Shinobu looked ashamed.

"And then removing the trackers worried us too," Motoko said gently.

"Wait," Kitsune said. "Trackers? You were spying on Naru?" She raised her voice over the last part, hoping it would get Mutsumi's attention and bring her downstairs without having to leave Naru to get her. "Haven't we caused her enough trouble last time?"

"Naru, I looked those pills up online," Kanako said earnestly. "Sertraline can cause heart problems and other defects in babies. How can you take that risk? Isn't it better to tough it out until you get over it?"

"_Ara_ Kanako, I wasn't aware that you had received a degree in medicine while you were studying economics." Mutsumi _had_ heard Kitsune and come down the stairs. Normally she had two expressions: cluelessly cheerful and ambiguously intense. This time, she had a third expression: unambiguously angry.

"Hey!" Kanako protested, clearly intimidated. "I looked it up. How can they give something that dangerous to a pregnant woman? If you knew, why didn't you stop her? It causes-"

"It _might_ cause problems if Naru was taking five times her prescribed amount every day! But no doctor ever prescribes _that_ much, and Naru is responsible with her dosage."

"But there could be a bad side effect! The website said so!" Shinobu said, deeply concerned. Insanity, bad medicine, Mutsumi not caring… it was a lot to deal with.

"Shinobu, there can even be bad side effects from _aspirin_! But the side effects you're talking about are rare! That's why doctors monitor their patients when they prescribe something. Naru's doctors are good ones who took her condition into account."

"But…" Motoko said, struggling. "If it's nothing to worry about, Naru, why did you hide it from us? Aren't those pills for… crazy people.

Naru looked at Motoko unhappily. "I was afraid you all would misunderstand and judge me." She pushed past her and headed for the door. Opening it, she looked back. "I'm _so_ glad you proved me wrong." She walked out, closing the door behind her.

Motoko looked at Mutsumi. "So, you knew this was going on?"

Mutsumi nodded. "Yes, she told me at the beginning, and she kept me posted on what the doctor told her."

"Then why didn't you tell us about it?" Motoko asked, uneasily sensing that they might have caused another train wreck.

"Why? Because it's none of your damn business, that's why!" Sighing, she moderated her tone. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. Look. All of you have come to me with some pretty personal problems at times. I _don't _think you'd want me to tell the others about those problems. Why do you think Naru would want me to?"

"But…" Shinobu began hesitantly, "doesn't taking those pills mean that Naru is, um, insane? She's not going to have to go into an asylum, is she?"

Mutsumi bit back an exasperated reply. "No, Shinobu. 'Insanity' is a non-medical term that people misuse, where the proper term is 'an irrational psychosis.' It has some use in legal settings where it means the person is not mentally responsible for their actions because they lack the capacity to act rationally."

"What are you all staring at _me_ for?" Su asked, looking up from her bananas.

"Naru does not fit that meaning," Mutsumi continued. "She's not any different than she was before. She just learned that some things she doesn't like about herself can be treated. But without her permission, I can't go any further than that."

_She's not any different than she was before_. The trio hung their heads, chastened.

"Maybe we should find her and apologize," Motoko sighed. Kanako and Shinobu nodded in agreement.

Kitsune moved to the door. "I'll go. She's not mad at me, so I can check her mood and see if she's okay talking to ya."

"See you in the hot springs," Mutsumi said, turning the store sign to "closed" and picking up a watermelon.

.

.

Naru was sitting by the ruins of the old annex, holding a squirming, slobbering Hachi and pondering what to do. _I'm not going to run away again. That's stupid. But how am I going to face them if they see me as one step away from an ax murderer? _She looked at the puppy. "Well, I guess you and I can stick together."

Hachi perked his head up and squirmed out of her arms, disappearing behind a bush. Naru sweatdropped. _Maybe Kitsune was right about 'Hachi' not being the most fitting name._

A moment later, the dog came back, a stick in his mouth, wagging his tail happily.

"Aww," Naru said. "You heard the word 'stick,' didn't you." She held up her hand. "Okay, let me see it."

Hachi leapt back, still wagging his tail.

"Umm, if you want me to _throw _the stick, you need to drop it first."

The dog gave her a _what does this strange 'drop it' mean? _expression.

"Come on…" she said in a coaxing tone. She lunged forward, grabbing one end of it. Hachi gave a happy growl and began tugging on it, wagging his tail. "Ohh, that's how you want to play?" She slowly moved her hand forward. "I'm going to…" she lunged forward, grabbing one end. "…Get it!"

Kitsune came up to see Naru playing tug-of-war with the dog, laughing while the dog growled, wagging his tail. _I guess either the mutt or that serta-whatever she was prescribed is working_, she thought, remembering how morose the younger woman could be when she was defensive. _Now, how do I convince her to come back_.

.

.

As it turned out, luck was with her and it didn't really take any persuading at all to get Naru to come back to the tea room, which was another difference from the past. Sara had come up, looking for Hachi and Naru had flushed with embarrassed at being caught unawares.

Kitsune, deciding not to tease Naru for once, said, "I came ta see if you were okay with talking to them again. I think they want to apologize for their stunt."

Naru looked relieved—whether because they wanted to apologize or because of the distraction from being caught out—and nodded. "Okay," she said. She looked at Hachi, who was chewing the bark of the stick, and then at Sara who was trying to look as if she had just come across them by coincidence and not from searching high and low for the dog with a box of treats.

"I guess I can watch him for you if you need me to," she said, trying to sound bored. "C'mere Hachi!" She lunged forward to grab the stick, making a growling sound. "Come on, drop it!" She held up a dog treat. "Drop it!"

_I guess that dog __**can**_ _do more good around here than I thought_, Kitsune mused as they walked along. It was true. The dog gave Naru something to focus on when she was lonely and Sara was _much_ less obnoxious when playing with the dog than she was playing the indifferent teenager.

.

.

Makie finally sat up. Leaning over, she turned on the lights. The clock said 8:30. The candles had flickered out, and the tempura was ruined. _Appropriate_, she thought. She wasn't sure how she had so badly misread Keitaro senpai, but she had and she ruined everything between them.

Well, there was nothing she could do about that now, except apologize after he cooled down, and move on with a life without him. But the rest of her life wouldn't wait for her feelings to heal. So she needed to work on that.

Picking up the phone, she dialed Artyom.

.

.

Surprised that Kitsune was leading her to the hot springs instead of the tearoom, Naru slid the door open. "No _dogeza_ please," she said firmly.

Shinobu and Motoko, who had been preparing to hit the floor, looked embarrassed. Haruka, who must have joined the otherswhile Kitsune was looking for Naru, looked puzzled. "What did you do now?"

"Naru," Motoko began, hesitantly, "I think we've acted out of ignorance here. Apparently I am wrong about what going to counseling and taking those kinds of medicines means. I am- we are all sorry about accusing you."

Shinobu and Kanako, nodded, abashed.

Naru sighed and, throwing her clothes in a hamper, walked over to a stool. "I wanted to tell you about this eventually. I was just going to wait for Keitaro to get back first." She began scrubbing herself.

"Were you going to tell _oniichan _about it then too?" Haruka asked.

"He already knows," Naru replied patiently, getting up and walking over to the others. "I told him right off I was thinking about it. He encouraged me, and told me not to be afraid, saying he was behind me." She smiled as Shinobu brought a juice over as she eased herself into one of the cooler springs.

"After my… erm… trip to Nagasaki, I thought about my part in our fight. We almost fell into divorce, I almost wound up hating you, and I think my issues were part of it. I don't want the baby to have to grow up in an unhappy house, so I wanted to see if I could get help. Mutsumi helped me get started and Dr. Juse referred me to a psychiatrist who had experience with treating pregnant women."

"Umm, how did you get this er…" Shinobu hesitated, wondering how to avoid putting her foot in her mouth. "…well, this condition?"

"_Ara, _it isn't like a disease you catch, Shinobu chan," Mutsumi interjected.

"Apparently it's something I've always had. Low self esteem, that was turning into depression. Dr. Nakahara told me that I have a tendency to think my not wanting something wasn't a good enough reason for opposing it. So, when I thought that Mutsumi might be the Promise Girl, or when Keitaro wanted to go to Pararakelse before we were together I just felt like not wanting something wasn't a good enough reason to say 'no,' so, as Keitaro put it, I held things in until I burst."

Shinobu remembered what Haruka had told her that night Naru had slapped her …_she never thought of herself as mattering to anyone_… she remembered all those years ago when the others agreed to let Keitaro stay, Naru protested, but went along… the times he begged for help studying and she refused—but helped him anyway. _Even up to the point last month where she held in what she felt until she lost her temper and hit me_. "I'm sorry, Naru. I wish I had known. So many things I should have done differently."

Naru smiled, sadly. "I probably should have told everyone sooner. But there was a barrier."

"What barrier was that?" Motoko asked, gently.

Naru slumped down, not looking at anyone. "I was ashamed," she said faintly. "I felt like it was my fault for being so weak. That I should have just endured it. But once I began seeing Dr. Nakahara, I learned that these things weren't just a matter of weakness or lacking discipline. Counseling and medicine could help me to deal with these things, so I wasn't holding things back anymore. I'm starting to realize I can say 'I'm not okay with that' without holding it in until I overreact."

Kanako, who had said these things about her being weak, hung her head. "I'm sorry Naru."

Naru nodded. "So, now that I'm learning to say that, I want to say I'm not okay with your spying on me. I don't mind if you want to come to Tokyo with me. But what you're doing looks like you think I'm some idiot child who has to be constantly minded."

"We were probably overreacting to the baby," Motoko admitted. "We were just afraid that something was wrong and that's why you were going off to appointments. So we did snoop. But it wasn't until today that we found out about… this."

"No, the baby is fine." She kept her voice even, hoping they would understand there was nothing to worry about. "The doctors take good care of us, Mutsumi checks up on me to make sure I'm properly understanding the instructions I'm given. So I think the baby and I are in good hands."

Stretching, Naru ran her hand across her stomach and abdomen. The girls surrounded her.

"Are ya showing yet?" Kitsune asked?

"No, still flat," Naru said. "I probably won't start showing until I get three or four months along, so probably not until next month at the earliest based on when I think I got pregnant."

"I wonder though," Shinobu mused aloud. "Based on what you said about Pararakelse, how did you ever get around to making a ba-" she broke off, suddenly realizing what she was asking.

Naru blushed slightly. "Ah, well Shinobu, there _is_ such a thing as 'angry sex.'"

"Auuuu! Too much information!" Turning around, Shinobu curled up and submerged herself up to her nose to hide her blushing.

"Shinobu," Haruka said, smirking, "you should be very careful before asking a married woman about her sexual activity. The best case situation is that the woman will be angry at you."

"The _best_?" Motoko asked, puzzled. "If that's the best case, what's the worst?"

Haruka's smirk turned into a fierce grin. "In the worst case, the woman will tell you… in graphic detail."

Turning a deep shade of red, Motoko joined Shinobu in submerging herself.

"Oh, I know," Naru said. "Don't you miss it when your husband isn't around to-"

With a stampede, everyone but Haruka joined Shinobu and Motoko.

"Hmm," Naru said to Haruka. "I see why Kitsune has fun with this."

.

.

**Author's Notes**

"that night Naru had slapped her." Read chapter 10 of _Forever and a Day_.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: **_Moving Outward_

Dawn found Keitaro was struggling with the tie-downs when the taxi pulled up. The damned straps tended to curl up and twist under the cinch, which became extremely difficult to remove at the end of a trip without having to cut it. So that put him in a bad mood—a worse mood, considering last night. _At least I'll have a few weeks respite from having to deal with-_. The sound of a car pulling up interrupted his thoughts.

Keitaro silently groaned as Makie jumped out of the taxi, and he fixed his gaze firmly on the straps, hoping she was there for some other reason..

She wasn't. Makie cautiously approached him. "Keita… Urashima-senpai…" she began nervously. _I have to make him understand he got the wrong idea._

Keitaro looked up from securing a load to a truck. _Now what? Why is she here? _"Hm?" he grunted, hoping to shut down any more flirtatious behavior.

Makie cringed at the tone, but pushed forward. "I just… Look, I'm sorry about what happened… Yes, I misunderstood your intentions towards me but… I just… before the dig gets on the road, I wanted you to know that, despite how it might have seemed, I'm really not that kind of person…." Her voice trailed off helplessly at Keitaro's expression.

Keitaro had stopped cinching the tie-downs, and was giving her a cold look. He turned back to the straps he was tightening. "You mean you're not type of person," he said caustically, "who is willing to have an affair with a married man?"

Makie stepped back, hurt. "That's not what… Hey! Please look at me—I just want you to understand me-"

Keitaro shook his head and looked at her accusingly. "Look, Saito-san. Whatever type of person you are or might be, you _were_ a person who tried to have an affair. You're not going get past that point if you won't acknowledge it. And you can't change it either. But you can make it," he grunted and locked the two remaining tie-downs tight, causing their buckles to clap with a metallic finality, "so that you are a person who never does something like that again."

Makie stared at him for a moment, stunned. So, that was how he was going to be? Then she got angry, knowing damn well that _hadn't_ been her intention. _Why are __**you**_ _acting like I'm the only to blame after __**you**_ _led me on? __**I**_ _thought you wanted to leave her! _Her eyes narrowed. "Don't give me that crap, Keitaro! You were the one who always… You know what? Fine," she said in a low voice. "Forget it." She angrily strode over to the battered taxi and pulled some bags out of the back seat. She dragged them over to the next truck and struggled to lift them over the tailgate.

One of the diggers walked over to give her a hand. "_Tutulungan kita._"

"I can do it!" Makie snapped. "_Doke!_"

Keitaro hadn't expected that. "What are you doing?" He winced internally. That had come out harsher than expected. But she was going along? _That's the last thing I needed right now._

Makie glared at him. "I'm still a part of the frigging dig team, dammit!" The usual sweetness in her voice was gone, replaced by a bitter hurt. "Artyom told me to have my gear ready, and he's in charge now! Not you. So _Fuzakeru na!_" With an angry shove, she got the last bag over the tailgate and, pushing past Keitaro, climbed into the driver's side of the cab of the truck, slamming the door. Hard. She gunned the engine and stared straight ahead. Sighing, Nyamo climbed into the cab next to her.

"What the hell is her problem?" Keitaro muttered to himself. The words of Mutsumi echoed in his mind

"_Kei-kun, what are your intentions? I don't mean what you think Nacchan will do. I mean, what do you plan to do? Motoko and Shinobu are acting this way because they think you are going to divorce her and they have a chance with you. Maybe this Saito-san thinks the same thing. You're being unfair to all of them. If you're planning to divorce Nacchan, she has a right to know. If you're not, she has a right to expect you to draw a line!"_

Well, he _was_ trying to draw a line now. Why did she treat him like an asshole for doing so?

Opening the door to his truck, he was greeted by a dark cloud and the acrid smell that reminded him of burning oil.

"Dammit, Artyom! Not more _Belomorkanals!_" Even though it was getting hot outside, and the air conditioner was running, he rolled down the window. Those things smelled like a fire at a tire dump.

Artyom shrugged. "My last pack. What else to do when driving than smoke and talk?" He blew out a large cloud of smoke, and looked out the rear view mirror. The crew was checking to make sure everything was secure. "Now, while we wait, let's talk about team," he said brusquely.

"Err, okay," Keitaro said, mildly taken aback.

"I am glad you will go on for Masters," he said, dropping what he thought were unnecessary articles of speech. "You have much talent which will be aided by more education. But, after you go, I have to continue dig, _Da?_"

"Yes?" Keitaro had no idea where he was going with this.

"I like team we have. I do not want to lose members we have. Especially our top surveyor who is also going to someday be a good cultural archaeologist. _Vy ponimayete menya_?"

Keitaro sighed, wishing Makie had contacted him in a less public setting. _No, wait. 'Less public' is what I need to avoid_. "Look, she crossed a line. I had to make it clear she can't."

"_Da_. I understand. I would hope Svetlana would make it clear to any man chasing after her. But, help me understand. Japan does not have sense of sin like we do in Russia, _Da?_"

Keitaro remembered some of the anthropology classes he took at Todai. In it they discussed the western concept of 'sin.' In some ways, Keitaro thought, it seemed like adding outdated mysticism to arbitrary rules. But, the professor pointed out that certain distasteful things done in Japan were less prevalent in nations that still held to the concept. _Enjo Kosai,_ or the alarmingly decreasing age that Japanese youth became sexually active in general, for example. "_In some ways,_" the professor had said, "_we are at a disadvantage compared to those nations because we do not have this means of discouraging socially destructive behavior._"

"Yes, that's right." he conceded.

"So, is possible that Saito doesn't understand what is wrong with going after you though you're married? Your country produces much entertainment that separates sex from marriage. Nothing is seen as much wrong with married men going to strip clubs and prostitution?"

"Well, I don't like it…" He paused, remembering when he first came to Hinata House. He and Naru had been trying to study while Su was pestering him. She had discovered his adult magazine and showed Naru. Naru's response was more of impatience than disgust, saying _Well, he is a guy, isn't he?_ And all those falls at the worst possible moment, her response was one of hurt, but she thought it was inevitable… _maybe we do treat infidelity too laxly_ he thought.

"But if you were to tell married man not to do, he would say, what is term, _zakkenayo_?"

"Well, if he was drunk." Keitaro winced. He was still defensive about Makie's _fuzakeru na_, and Artyom was pretty vulgar in any language. "Otherwise he might say _Yokeinaosewada_."

"_Da, Da," _Artyom growled impatiently. "Whatever. Point is, he think it's not for you to say it is wrong, even when it is."

"Fine, what's your point?" Sick of comments on his life, Keitaro was getting ready to say _Yokeinaosewada_ himself in a moment… missing the fact that his attitude was illustrating the older man's point.

"My point is, if Saito doesn't know what she wants is wrong, she might draw wrong idea from how you shut her down. She might not think 'I have done bad.' She might think you are a _mudak._ I don't want to deal with you feuding out in desert. I don't want to leave one of you behind. If I do, it will be done with long term good of team in mind, even though is not fair to you. _Ty menyá ponimáesh?_"

Artyom hoped he did _ponimayete,_ that it wasn't a threat but a plea. He needed both of them working together to get this dig settled before the rainy season came.

"Fine," Keitaro grumbled, realizing that if he didn't go along, it would delay handing off the dig. Since Makie would be staying at least until the beginning of the next term and him leaving as soon as he could, he knew who would be left behind for the _long term good of the team_. "I'll work with her. Just have her keep away from me when it's not work related from now on," he said, grudgingly.

Artyom softened somewhat. "Keitaro," he said in a fatherly tone, "I don't say you are wrong to avoid problems before they start. Or that you handled it bad. She had a bad idea and you stopped it. Just remember, desert is hard enough even when everyone gets along." He smiled gently. "If she causes problem, tell me. I deal with her. _Da?_"

"_Da,_" Keitaro smiled back.

"Then let's go!" He blew the horn and leaned out the window. "_Sukin sin!_ Let's go!" He put the deuce and a half into gear and it violently lurched forward. He grinned and slappped a battered cassette tape into a battered tape deck.

"_YOU'LL TAKE MY LIFE BUT I'LL TAKE YOURS TOO!" _the noise blared out in English. "_YOU'LL FIRE YOUR MUSKET BUT I'LL RUN YOU THROUGH!_"

_A hundred miles of this and Belomorkanals_, he thought, wincing from the audio and olfactory assault as they jounced along.

.

.

"Morning sickness, needing to pee, swollen feet, and now my breasts are sore, Naru grumbled," as she glared at her bra. "It's the four horsemen of my apocalypse_."_

"Getting an athletic bra for the daytime and a sleep bra at night should help you feel supported without being constricted," Mutsumi said cheerfully—_too_ cheerfully for Naru's mood—remembering her own mother's complaints.

"I don't have any of those," Naru snapped, trying to fit into hers again. "Oww!" There was no way in hell she was going to squeeze into it. _Keitaro would be happy with these if he was here, I guess._ Of course, given the soreness, she'd probably thump him if he tried to get amorous without warning.

Scowling, Naru threw her bra on the floor and stomped on it. She stood there, topless, glowering at it for being too small.

"I'll lend you one of mine," Mutsumi replied, ignoring the tone. "It should still have more than enough room for you."

Whatever violent response Naru might have given to the implications of her friend's cheerfully clueless comment was interrupted by a knock. Ema entered while Naru hastily covered herself by wrapping a blanket around her torso.

"_Sugoi!" _Ema murmured, feeling inadequate standing between the two women. "Umm, Naru-san, you have a letter."

"Oh? Thank you Ema-chan." Naru took the envelope. It was from the Juban Public Middle School. That was interesting. She had put in applications to many schools, but as it was midterm, she hadn't expected responses to anything except from cram schools. She opened it and read aloud.

"_Due to the unexpected illness of one of our teachers, we would like to offer you an interim position teaching Mathematics to students in grades 7-9. The hours would be…_"

Naru looked up. "That would be more convenient than doing cram schools in the evenings."

"Where's Juban?" Ema asked.

"Azabu-Juban Ward in Tokyo." She turned to Mutsumi. "Do you-"

"Yes, I think it is safe," Mutsumi said patiently. "At this point, whatever is a danger to the baby would be a danger to you too. Just take the same precautions as you would before you were pregnant and you should be fine."

"I guess I do ask that too much, don't I?" Naru said ruefully.

"_Sugoi!_" Sara whispered in an envious tone, walking in in with Hachi on a leash. Flushing red, Naru pulled the slipping blanket more tightly around her chest. "You're going to teach? Do you have to take any tests or do any licensing?" Sara asked Naru.

"No, mine is current," Naru said. "Though I hear they're talking about making it renewable. Good thing I don't have to take the test again. I hear there are so many people taking the exam, that only one in five who pass it get hired."

"Why such a low number?" Motoko asked, joining the group.

_Doesn't anybody knock anymore?_ "Because teaching pays higher than other civil service jobs. It was implemented in the late 1940s because the number of teachers was so low."

"Anything we can do to help?" Shinobu, as she entered with Kanako and Kitsune. She stopped and stared at Naru. "_Sugoi…_"

Kitsune gave a smirk, "You've grown."

"There is one thing you can all do," Naru said, facepalming and gritting her teeth.

"What's that?"

"Get out of here! Give me a chance to get dressed before you have a conference in my room!"

.

.

Makie had taken the lead, meaning that she and Nyamo didn't have to deal with sand being thrown up by vehicles in front and coming through the vents. Because she was a skilled driver, Makie was able to lead the other vehicles around the potential holes and rocks that could damage a rim or even break an axle.

Usually, she was talkative. But today, Nyamo noticed, she was sullen, driving with clenched teeth.

"Okay, what happened?" On one hand, she didn't want to know what caused the blowup with Keitaro. On the other, Makie was her friend and she was hurting.

"Keitaro's being an idiot!" Makie snarled.

Nyamo rolled her eyes, remembering all the mishaps. "I've thought that for years. Want to explain?"

Makie sighed, reminding herself that Nyamo wasn't an enemy. "Well, you remember how miserable he was before he went to Japan? Well I decided to be open and let him know that I was there for him when they divorced. That I could that I could be the woman for him."

"Oh, God…" Nyamo groaned, putting her hand over her eyes. "I don't believe it! You went… all the way with him." _Poor Naru!_

"What? No dammit! I didn't even get a chance to talk to him!" she snapped.

"What? Keitaro did the right thing?" Nyamo hadn't expected that. She expected Keitaro to fall down and get caught in another compromising situation.

_The right thing!? _Makie bit back an angry retort. "Well, there wasn't much we needed to move. So I thought we'd have dinner first, and I'd tell him my feelings. But he showed up in a truck, with some of the crew, ready to move stuff. He saw me dressed nice and dinner set up, and assumed I wanted to have an affair with him!" She angrily swerved around a boulder in the sand.

"You weren't?" Nyamo asked, her voice part surprised, part skeptical. By Pararakelse standards, Makie's behavior was a bit scandalous.

Makie glared, hurt by the assumption of guilt. "No, dammit! I'm not a _yariman_! I even closed the door to my bedroom so he wouldn't think that an open door was an invitation!"

Nyamo didn't know that particular Japanese term, but she could figure it out by context. "So, what _did_ you intend? The way you talked, I thought you were planning to-" She blushed, unable to say it aloud.

"No, I didn't plan on doing anything that night. I was going to let him take the initiative on starting _that_! If he wanted to wait until the divorce was final, I'd have waited. So it pisses me off that he accused me!"

Despite her darker skin, Nyamo's blushed visibly. On Pararakelse, it was assumed you waited for marriage, so it felt awkward talking openly about… that. "Dammit Makie! Naru's having his baby! He made up with her! How the hell did you _think_ he'd react to your offer?"

"I _said_, I never had a chance to talk! Look, If I knew he wasn't interested, I would have let him go. But what was I supposed to think? He was the one always bitching about how terrible his home life was. He was always coming by to help me. What was I supposed to think? You tell me!"

Nyamo saw both sides of the equation now, and being caught in the middle made her angry. "I think you're both clueless frigging idiots! Why didn't you b- WATCH OUT FOR THE HOLE!"

Makie swore and swerved at the last second. The vehicles behind them scattered as they barely avoided the vehicle wrecking hazard. Angry horns blared behind them. Makie flushed, ashamed. It was her job as the lead vehicle to watch for and give advance warning on hazards.

.

.

"What the hell is wrong with them?" Artyom growled, easing off the horn and leaning down as he retrieved his lit cigarette from the floor of the cab. "They should be giving more warning!"

Keitaro grabbed the two way radio. "Umm, Is anything wrong up there, Nyamo?"

"NONE OF YOUR DAMN BUSINESS, KEITARO!" Makie and Nyamo shouted back angrily.

Keitaro dropped the radio and clutched his ear. Over the radio, he could hear the two women arguing before one of them released the talk button.

"Better leave it," Artyom sighed, watching the lurching truck in front of them. "As we say in Russia, You would do better to sit on a powder keg than meddle with an angry woman."

Keitaro nodded ruefully. "I'm a slow learner, but I'm finally learning that much anyway." Cluelessly, he wondered what they were fighting about.

.

.

Naru decided that while she liked a lot of things about Japan, dealing with the hurdles to list rental property wasn't one of them. She could either go through a number of separate channels or go through a property manager. The former meant dealing with the local neighborhood real-estate agent, real-estate agents from the districts of middle schools, high schools, and colleges where students or parents might be looking for dorm rooms. The latter meant going through a property manager, who would do all these listings for you—at a fairly good size chunk of the money coming in.

Fortunately, Motoko and her legal training was able to figuratively cut through problems that might have cost Naru extra. Of course, with Motoko carrying her sword on her back, some of the Property Managers might have worried that the cutting through problems could become literal without warning.

Motoko paced menacingly. Naru, feeling that the bra she borrowed from Mutsumi was too big, stayed still to keep everything in place. Kitsune's would have probably been closer in size, but that wasn't an option. _If I asked to borrow one of hers, I'd __**never**_ _hear the end of the teasing._

"So," Haaku Okaneno the agent said warily watching Motoko. "Let's see if I have this correct. This is a female dorm for middle school students, high schoolers, and college students with a hot springs on the premises. You have two rooms available. It might attract some students with the features listed, even though it is the middle of the school year."

He shuffled through his papers. "That neighborhood is mostly reputable, which will make it attractive." He frowned. "Some neighbors have expressed concern over a property in the region with obnoxious, disruptive women. Are you aware of such a place and, if so, is your property nearby?"

"I can't say that we are," Motoko said. _Because that would be self-incrimination, according to Article 38_.

Naru sweatdropped, envisioning herself convicted of fraud and wondering if they had maternity prison jumpsuits.

.

.

Captain Emori Leba scanned the horizon with his binoculars. No smoke or sand kicked up by vehicles in this sector. That meant either the rebels were in another section of the island bordering the Desert of Death, or they'd moved into the desert interior. He hoped it wasn't the latter. Nyamo was supposed to be going out there with those idiots soon. Sighing, he unslung his rifle and checked it. It was the job of his unit to make sure they 'neutralized' the rebels before they were a threat to anybody else.

_Besides, there shouldn't be anything to worry about_, he thought, smiling. _Nyam's calm and level headed…_

.

.

"You really have to ask _why_ I'm mad at both of you? It's because I'm stuck between you idiots!" Nyamo snarled at Makie. "You're my friends, but _you_ want what you can't have and _he_ took too damn long before he made that clear! It isn't fair to me, and it's even worse for Naru, being pregnant and having to worry about two _ulukau_ who don't understand boundaries!"

Makie, having an idea what unfamiliar Pararakelsean word meant, bit back an angry retort. _I probably wrecked any chances of being friends with Keitaro. I don't want to wreck this friendship too. _"All right Nyamo," she said trying to rein in her irritation. "I'm sorry for putting you in this situation. You don't have to _gamigami _any more. Look. I thought he wanted to leave his wife. He made it clear he doesn't. Fine. I'm sad, but I'll survive. That's not why I'm mad. I'm pissed that he didn't make it clear to me before, and I'm pissed that he assumes I asked him over for sex when I had no such plan!"

_But would you if he asked? _Nyamo looked at Makie suspiciously. It wasn't like her to back down so easily from something like this. She remembered when she stood up to Artyom and Keitaro, arguing that the archives couldn't be in that section of the ruins. She turned out to be right in that case. But now it looked like she was blinking back tears.

"Look," she said, moderating her tone. "You told me that things are different in Japan. Maybe they are. But here, we don't think it's right to go after a married person. We don't even approve of divorce. So, for me, watching you going after him feels… wrong… regardless of how you do it over there."

"What's wrong with it? It's how my parents met," Makie sniffled, defensively. "He was a professor. She was his student. I guess they were dating before my dad divorced his first wife. They got married on the day he divorced his first wife."

_Well, that explains a lot,_ Nyamo thought. _If she had __**that**_ _as an example, no wonder she didn't see anything wrong with it. _She was appalled by that mindset, but since Makie spoke as if it was was normal… _Does Keitaro think that way? Is that why Naru was so worried?_ _What a mess!_

"So," she began cautiously, "what are you going to do?"

"No idea," Makie said glumly. "He made it clear that it's not going to happen. I'll let him be. The problem is, we're going to have to work together. But he's pissed at me, and I'm pissed at him. I'm dreading stopping and having to deal with him."

Nyamo pondered that.

**Author notes**

Writing this was tricky. I wanted to avoid a "other woman as predator" cliche. Yes, Keitaro did reconcile with Naru, and closed down Shinobu/Motoko's attempts to pursue him. But the consequences of his clueless past are coming back to haunt him.

I prefer to just use English words when everyone speaks the same language natively. But when people natively speak different languages, sometimes words from their own languages slip in. So translation is provided.

"_fuzakeru na" _literally has a sense of "don't fool around (with me)." Tends to get translated as anything from "go to hell." But it's not as rude as _zakkennayo_.

"_Doke!"_ Move!

"adding outdated mysticism to arbitrary rules." I want to avoid having the _Love Hina _cast sounding like "Americans with Japanese names." So I sometimes throw in the distinctions where someone from Japan might think differently. The sense of sin is one of them.

"_Zakkenayo_" commonly translated as "don't fuck with me."

"_Yokeinaosewada_" translates as "it's none of your business."

"_Mudek_" means "asshole" in Russian.

"_Vy ponimayete menya_" Do you understand me?

"_Sugoi_" amazing, impressive.

"I hear they're talking about making it renewable." As of 2009 (3 years after this story) that policy was implemented. Now teachers are tested every ten years to make sure they're up to date.

"_Yariman_." Slut.

"Article 38" A reference to the Japanese Constitution. Motoko is abusing two clauses: "No person shall be compelled to testify against himself," and "No person shall be convicted or punished in cases where the only proof against him is his own confession."

"_Ulukau_" idiots in Fijian (which I use for Pararakelsean)

"_gamigami_" onomatopoeia for nagging/reprimanding.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**: _Quite an Education_

Naru rose early that morning to prepare for the day. There was the morning sickness, but thankfully that was diminishing. Afterwards, she cleaned up and changed into her outfits—knee high skirt, blouse, jacket, her glasses. Then brushing dog fur off of everything. "I need to start wearing colors that match you_,"_ she said to Hachi.

Hachi gave her a look that said he was happy to share his fur.

Getting dressed was less painful now that she had a sports bra instead of the lacy ones Keitaro liked to see her wear. She checked herself in the mirror, bowing forward to make sure she wasn't revealing cleavage or her collarbones just in case any of the boys at Juban Public Middle School were dirty minded little perverts.

If Keitaro was here, he could have told her that "middle school boys" and "dirty minded little perverts" were synonymous. But he wasn't, and the two hour time difference meant that they weren't always available to talk at the same time. _Too bad satellite antennas for cars are so expensive. We could have talked while he was traveling to the site_. No way Todai or the Institute would budget for that. But at least they were scheduled to talk this evening.

She threw the important things into her bag. Her preliminary lesson plan to be reviewed by her mentor, her purse, her anti-nausea medicine.

Coming downstairs, it was chaos. The first day of a new school term, everybody was scrambling to get ready. She was going to Juban Public Middle School; Mutsumi, Motoko, Shinobu, Su, and Kanako we're going to Todai; Sara and Ema were going to their respective high schools. That left Haruka to help and Kitsune to "help" get things ready.

"Auuu," Shinobu groaned, juggling between preparing tea and _miso _for breakfast and _bento_ for the day. "I should have started preparing last night."

"Yeah, but the party was fun," Kitsune smirked.

Shinobu glared, but had nobody to blame but herself for joining in.

"I'll help, Shinobu," Naru said, working her way through the commotion.

"Nonsense!" Kanako said. "Don't over exert yourself. We'll help her."

_Don't I have to __**exert**_ _in the first place before I can over exert? _Naru thought. The others were doing their best not to treat her like a child, but they still were reluctant to let her do things. _I hope they don't follow me to school._

.

.

Watching the girls depart, Haruka and Kitsune looked at each other, getting used to the stillness again. Haruka looked at her watch. "I figure we won't see Sara and Ema before four o'clock."

Kitsune shrugged. "They might end up joining a club."

Haruka rolled her eyes. "Let me rephrase that. 'I figure we won't see _Sara_ until four.' The others, probably not until five or six."

"More trouble?" Kitsune noticed Haruka's glower.

"Yeah," Haruka growled. "Last night she was complaining about having to go to high school since it's not mandatory. I wish Seta would hurry up and get back from Molmol. She might listen to him without arguing."

"I remember thinking like that. If it wasn't for Grandma Hina pushing me, I probably would have dropped out."

"I wish she was here," Haruka remarked. "Maybe she'd have that kind of talk with Sara." However, she was with Keitaro's parents now, convalescing. The doctor had absolutely rejected a stay at Hinata House based on stairs and the 'reports of an undisciplined environment.'

She yawned and stretched. "So, Kitsune, what are your plans?"

"Well, the second thing on my list is to walk that mutt and then get ready to open the tea room and the bath for customers."

"And the first thing?" Haruka asked, with a knowing smile.

Kitsune pulled out a pack of cigarettes. "When Mutsumi's away, the mice will play."

"To the roof," Haruka said, pulling out her own pack.

.

.

While they would be parting ways eventually, they all had to get on board the local streetcar together. So the other passengers were hit with a _tsunami _of women jamming on board. Motoko evicted a male passenger—who had ignored Naru's maternity mark—from his seat and glared at anyone who might crowd in and endanger mother and child.

Naru was a bit mortified, but given that her feet would eventually start aching regardless of her sensible shoes, she was grateful to delay the onset. She was also worried, belatedly, about how she would adapt to the stresses of teaching. _The Sertraline helped me deal with things so far, but how will I do teaching math to so many students? _She wondered if she made a mistake in accepting the position.

She looked up to see Mutsumi smiling reassuringly at her.

"_Ara, Ara, _Nacchan. You taught well before. You should do well now too. Remember, you're not going in with anything less than you had before."

Naru smiled back, feeling a little less worried.

.

.

Their camp fully set up, and the vehicles unloaded, they set about following Artyom's information. That was a bit awkward because Keitaro was their digger _par excellence _and Makie was their best surveyor.

"So, assuming that the song is accurately translated," Makie said tonelessly, "you're probably right that the rock over there is the seventh turtle rock. Standing in a point that is two _anana_ and a _muku_ to the left-"

"Nine _ha'alima_ then," Keitaro interrupted, in a hurry to get the archive found so he could return home.

"I prefer to work with the text, Urashima," she said coldly. Given that we don't know the size of the person who did it originally, that gives us a distance of anywhere from 4.25 meters to six meters. If we went with nine _ha'alima, _we'd have a range of 3.84 to 5.46 meters. I think that's why we missed it last time."

Since it had been Keitaro's misreading last time, he said nothing.

"So the angle of the weave chart Artyom found will…" She pulled out a scientific calculator and began working. "Considering a margin of error of four degrees, let's try a range of 18 to 22 degrees at the minimum and maximum distances and depths that should give us an approximate range to look for the next monument."

That meant it was time for a break. Makie had to set up a temporary point, erect the tripod, set up the tribrach and coarse level, level it, set up the instruments, connect the power, turn it on, fine level the instrument. _Then_ send others out to hold the other end at the minimum and maximum ends of the possible angles at the minimum and maximum possible distance.

After that, it was a matter of tearing it down and moving it over 1.75 meters to the left and doing it all over again.

It did no good to ask why they couldn't pick it up and move it to save time. Apparently the small differences in the ground and equipment being shaken meant either risking an inaccurate reading or having to recalibrate it anyway. Or, as Makie had once curtly told Artyom, '_We could guess too. It would probably be just as accurate._' Whatever her moral problems, Makie was meticulous about her work.

That generally meant the digging crews—who stayed out of the sun when they weren't digging—napped or broke out the crossword puzzles, cards, or dominos. Western versions, of course. Keitaro and Nyamo ended up doing the dominos.

"So, what's going on with you and Makie?" Nyamo asked, laying down a double five.

"Nothing is going on between us," he replied, looking at the tiles and then at the score sheet. He couldn't see anything that could make a multiple of five. "She crossed a line, and I had to make it clear she wasn't welcome." He put down a two-three tile.

"I get that's what it looked like to you, and I'm glad you're staying with Naru. But a lot of us thought that wasn't going to happen when you went back to Japan." She put down a three-four.

"Well, Naru and I both misread each other and we both thought the other wanted divorce. It took a crisis to get us to sit down and talk." He laid down a double four. "But now that we are back together, I don't want anything to endanger it. So, if Makie wants to try to seduce me, I have to put up barriers."

"I agree. You should have put them up earlier. But it's good you did put them up. There's one thing that you should know."

"What's that?"

"Makie's not angry at you for not sleeping with her. She's angry at you for your accusing her of trying to sleep with you." She laid down a one-five on the open one. "Thirty five points."

Keitaro looked at the open tiles, feeling ambushed by the play and the revelations. "What do you mean she didn't…? Did you miss all of her stunts before I left?" _Nyamo sure is naive_. He laid down a five-blank, allowing him to make up most of the points he conceded to Nyamo.

"If she's telling the truth—and I think she is—then what she intended was to confess her feelings to you. She thought you were getting a divorce and was hoping to be the next Mrs. Urashima." She dropped a double blank, ending the game.

Keitaro pondered that as he gathered and shuffled the dominos. _That was what Shinobu and Motoko were doing_. He pondered that, remembering that terrible evening when Naru had felt utterly betrayed…

"_I thought we were friends! What the hell were you doing making those advances on my husband, earlier?" She turned on Keitaro. "And you! You're married! I'm your wife! What the hell were you doing, not shutting them down? This is just like Saito!"_

He winced, remembering the little things Makie had done, realizing fully now how it must have looked to Naru. _And I was frigging clueless!_ he thought, angry at himself.

"You awake there?" Nyamo asked, waving her hand in front of him.

"I'm thinking about what might have happened. If Grandma hadn't had a heart attack, we probably wouldn't have gone back to Japan. When the Measles outbreak happened, she would have gotten immunized, probably had a miscarriage. It probably would have been the death blow for our marriage." He began pulling his dominos out of the bone pile. "If we had given up then, would I have…?" He shrugged. "In all honesty, I don't know. I'm glad it never got that far."

"I am too," Nyamo said, drawing hers. "I remember how hurt Naru was when she came over to my place. She would have been devastated. But like I said, I wasn't sure that you were going to stay with her. And if _I_ thought that way…" She made a gesture.

"Yeah," Keitaro said finishing, "if you who knew me better than the rest of the crew thought that way, how would the rest of the crew think of it?" He sighed. "I'm an idiot."

"No comment."

.

.

Although Naru had taught for two years—one in Japan, one on Pararakelse—she was new at Juban Public Middle School. That meant she would have a senior teacher shadowing her as a mentor. Miss Sakurada Haruna, a woman who seemed to be in her mid to late thirties and had been teaching since the 1990s, looked up from evaluating Naru's sample lesson plan.

"I think you'll do well here, Mrs. Urashima. Your lesson plan and your records show you'll meet our needs for a math teacher. Do you have any questions?"

"How are the students? In terms of behavior and attentiveness I mean?"

"Well, I think we're not much different from other schools. You'll encounter the extremes of both the achievers and the slackers. But it's better than it was when I first started teaching. There was this one girl, long hair in _odango_, she drove me crazy." Idly, Miss Haruna wondered what happened to her after she got into Juban High School. She checked her watch. "Well, it's about time to meet your first class."

As they walked along, Naru remarked, "This looks like a quiet neighborhood."

"It really has quieted down," Haruna agreed. "It's not like some of those other schools. I heard that recently a deer attacked the principal at Tokisadame High School."

"Ordinary life sounds more and more like manga, nowadays."

.

.

Makie had a topographical map spread out on one of the tables. "Right, so the three concentric circles represent the best, middle, and worst cases for the ancient measurements. In the best case, we need to search an area of four hundred meters squared. In the worst case, about a thousand."

"And we have to dig down under sand layer to find landmark, _da_?" Artyom asked, looking at the rocky desert.

"Unless we get lucky," Makie replied.

"All right," Keitaro said, "everyone out there digging, make sure you're wearing long pants, long sleeves, and boots. Let's make sure there's one person on each team with a shotgun. We're about a hundred sixty klicks—a hundred miles—from Port Oxley. If someone gets bit by a cobra or gets a disease from a leech, that's going to be a problem. Hopefully we won't have any turtle stampedes."

He wondered if the term _turtle stampede _was used anywhere outside of Pararakelse.

"Good work, Makieva," Artyom said, adding a Russian feminine to her name. "Isn't it, Keitaro?"

Makie and Keitaro looked at each other uncomfortably, and then turned sharply away from each other.

Artyom sighed. _I hope I don't have to send one of them home_. He really couldn't spare the vehicles, or either one of them.

.

.

As a new teacher at the school, Naru had to endure the questioning students had. The girls wanted to know more about the baby implied by her maternity mark.

"Have you sent out the _Anteiki_ yet?"

"No, this is only my third month."

The boys wanted to ask the typical harassment questions that puberty inevitably brought out.

Thankfully, Haruna was playing bad cop, so questions about the "three sizes" were smacked down—literally, as she was at least as skilled as Haruka was with the _harisen._ But there were still questions like "Do you have a boyfriend?"

"I'm married," Naru said coolly, wondering how they could have asked that with her maternity mark featured prominently.

"What does he do?" another male student asked, as if he had a chance of wooing her away from Keitaro.

"He's an archaeologist, he's doing a dig on the island of Pararakelse right now."

"Pararakelse?"one of the students—a military _otaku_ apparently—asked. "Where the war they just had happened? Were you there? Did you see a lot of fighting?"

Naru sweatdropped. "No, there was a few days of fighting when we were visiting Japan, but everything is under control now."

.

.

"Looks like three, maybe four 6x6 heading east, sir," the sergeant said to Emori. "Anything smaller along for the ride probably had the tracks obscured."

"Those will probably be the missing Ural-4320s," Emori nodded. "They each have a carrying capacity of 27 passengers and the crew. Minus whatever gear they're hauling. So _if_ they're fully loaded with soldiers and no equipment or smaller vehicles, we'd be looking at a hundred twenty rebels." He checked his rifle. "Better to assume more, then to walk into an ambush. No telling whether they're packed like sardines or spread out."

"What do you think they're doing out here?" his young subordinate, Lieutenant Harry Kidd, asked.

"Well, with those numbers, they're not going to march on the capital. I'm going to guess they're either heading for the coast, or they're going to raid small towns for supplies. That will mean civilian casualties, so I pray to God I'm wrong there," Emori said grimly. _Thank God they're not moving inland to Nyam's dig site_. "All right, Kidd, get on the horn and ask for a chopper to fly out east of our position and see if we can spot them before we wind up in an ambush.

The older NCOs chuckled at the young lieutenant while he wished his last name had been something else.

.

.

It turned out that the marker was found twenty meters from the center of Makie's best case estimate.

"That's good surveying," Artyom said, lighting a Winston Red—thankfully, he had run out of _Belomorkanals_, and was reduced to using a less obnoxious brand. "Her methods work well."

"Yeah," Keitaro said reluctantly. Given the margin of error based on subjective measurements she had to work with, this was virtually dead center, but he was wary about offering Makie any praise for fear that it might give the wrong impression… that and it irritated him that he might have to admit that he rebuked her for something he had been gentle about with Motoko and Shinobu.

Artyom noticed that. _Better to ride slower and go further. _"I thank you for not making scene," he said. "It can't be easy to work under this circumstance."

"Yeah," Keitaro said, ruefully. "I guess I was living in denial before. But now that I know, I have to try find the right level."

_Try harder_. Aloud, Artyom said, "just remember, we get best work when you work together, I will say the same to her."

.

.

It happened in the final class of the day, when she was teaching a class of third year students. Naru was walking around while lecturing on a theory of algebra, when she happened to look down at the student next to her. The girl had short grey-brown hair, which was unusual. But what caught her eye was on her left hand. It was a gold band with a precious stone set in it. _That's an engagement ring!_ Quietly, she looked at the seating chart. The student was a Rika Sasaki.

_Okay, what's going on here? Are her parents okay with this? Is she sexually active? She only looks 14 or 15! How could a boyfriend her age afford something like that?_

She resolved to ask Motoko about the laws, before overreacting… she **hoped** she was overreacting.

The bell toned signaling the end of class. The students hurried off to their next class. Naru, however, was finished teaching. Being a new teacher, the school system gave her fewer classes to allow time for her to do mentoring with Haruna.

"You seemed a little off stride at the very end, Naru," Haruna said gently as they walked towards the teachers' lounge. "Was it the baby?"

"Hmm?" Naru looked up from her thoughts. "No, there was a student with what looked like an engagement ring. That seemed… odd."

"Oh, you mean Rika Sasaki? She likes to pretend she's engaged, but personally I think she must have borrowed it from her mother's jewelry box."

"I see," Naru said, hoping Haruna was right, but having a sick sense she wasn't. Or _was_ it a sense? Just to be safe, she took a Benatura tablet in case it was nausea.

"So," Haruna said, as they sat at the desk. "You seem to know teaching well, so I'm not sure if there's much I can do there. Perhaps we should work on how other parts of the school work."

"That sounds like a good idea," Naru said, keeping her voice casual. "Since I had been concerned with a student, this Rika, wasn't it, perhaps this is a good opportunity to go over procedures I would follow if it had been a legitimate concern."

"All right," Haruna said, agreeably. "One could start by checking up on her by her relationship with friends, in clubs, schoolwork, and the like."

"And if I found something, I would go on to a home visit?"

"I suppose so," Haruna mused. "Usually we do those from April to June, and usually only for first years to get a sense of home life or to discuss academic issues. After January, we might do them if a third year student doesn't seem to have a plan for high school."

"But it _could_ be done?"

"As long as you let us know you had it planned and properly filed your report. The principal doesn't like surprises. So if a parent came by with a question about why they were visited, he'd want to know about the visit before it happened."

"That makes sense. So what do I do at the school if I decide something is wrong?" Naru hoped she wasn't being obvious here.

If she was, Haruna was clueless. "Well, I'm your senior teacher, so you'd talk to me first. I'd tell you what I thought about whether you should go forward in reporting it to the principal or the school board. It's still your decision to make. But if you bypass the principal, he'd be unhappy about being blindsided."

"I wouldn't go to the police?" Naru asked, perplexed.

"Why should you want to?" Haruna asked. "What kind of laws do you expect to be broken here?"

.

.

Makie was adjusting the surveying equipment when Nyamo walked over. Artyom and Keitaro were evaluating the cuneiform on the recently discovered marker, so they weren't likely to overhear.

_Good_, Nyamo thought. "So, how are you holding out?" she asked, replacing Makie's water bottle.

"I'm doing okay, except it's hotter than blazes out here," Makie replied, gratefully accepting the bottle.

"Well, that's good. Except I was wondering how you were handling this situation."

Makie grimaced. "Right now, I can only say, _You have tomorrow if you keep on living_. Am I sad that he doesn't feel the same way about me that I do? Yes. Am I hurt by how he views me? Yes. Dammit, I wish we could have stayed friends."

Nyamo sighed internally, feeling like she was wandering blindfolded through a minefield. She wanted them to stay friends too, partiality because they were both her friends, and partially because she was caught in the middle. "I think what you have to remember here is Naru."

"Naru? What about her?" Her tone was one of puzzlement.

Nyamo sweatdropped. _Is she __**that**_ _clueless?_ "Whatever Keitaro does, he has to do with her in mind. She doesn't, well… she doesn't have a positive view of you." _That's putting it mildly_. "The night before the last dig we all did together, they fought. Naru came by my apartment."

"Ah," Makie said shortly, sensing where this was going. She checked her watch, 5:30pm. They'd be losing light soon. _No sense in risking a bad reading. _"Okay," she called to her crew, "mark what we have and we'll start up again tomorrow." She turned back to Nyamo. "And?"

"There's no real way to sugar coat it. She felt betrayed by Keitaro and was afraid that you would steal her away. I guess he resented that because he had no intention of leaving her and thought she would leave him."

"Well," Makie said, hesitating. "I wish he had made his intentions clear before. I only went after him because I thought he was interested in me."

"I wish he had too, but he's making them clear now, in a way that is probably meant to keep her from worrying," Nyamo said, patiently. "Just give him space. Either it will get better or it won't. Don't try to push him." _And stop chasing married men!_

"I hear you, Nyamo. I won't push. I just hope he doesn't lose his balance." She rolled her eyes. "The first time we met, he tripped over something and faceplanted into my cleavage."

Nyamo sweatdropped, remembering her first encounters with Keitaro. "Yeah, Keitaro can be a clueless idiot sometimes. I was maybe fourteen when he first did that to me."

"_Fourteen!?"_ Makie asked, shocked. "The first time he did that, I thought he was just being forward." _Either I got him wrong from the beginning, or he's a real pervert!_ "That must have been traumatic," she said gently. _How do I ask if he tried to…_

"It was embarrassing, sure. But Naru always chased him off." She smiled. "At first, I was scared of _her_. I didn't know any Japanese, and she only knew the English she learned in high school and preparing for college tests. But now I knew she was trying to make sure that his accidents didn't turn out to be 'accidents.'" She made air quotes with her fingers.

"Fourteen…" Makie mused. "You knew them back then?" Nyamo was twenty now.

"Yes, apparently Keitaro thought he failed his entrance exams again. He jumped a ship here. Naru came here to bring him home." Nyamo smiled. "That was my first encounter with the asylum known as Hinata House."

The teardown finished, Makie said, "well, let's get this sheltered." She picked up the surveying scope, and headed for the trucks. _Naru came all the way out here?_ It was one thing to say you were willing to follow somebody to the ends of the earth. But apparently Naru had damn near done it literally. _Would I have done that?_

.

.

The trip from _Todaime_ station to the _Azuma-Juban_ station was only a ten minute ride. Since it was a five minute walk from the school to her station, Naru only had to wait five minutes at the station from the time she got Shinobu's text until the train arrived.

Su leaned out of the train and waved, while the other girls pretended not to know her. After the exchange of "how was your day?" they settled in for the 90 minutes of trains and transfers to get home. The train was getting crowded enough that Naru couldn't get embarrassed by Motoko's evicting a man from his seat for her.

"With such a low birth rate in this country, aren't you ashamed of making this woman stand?" she said in a loud angry voice.

Naru sweatdropped. …_then again…_

Once home again, after Sara and Naru walked the dog, they gathered at Kitsune's tea room to unwind. Hachi fell asleep, using Tama for a chin rest. Shippu slept on Hachi's back, and Leon slept between his feet. Kuro dug her claws into Kanako's thigh and hissed, giving Hachi an _I will murder you _glare.

Naru took her green tea over to where Motoko was looking over a law book while sipping from a cup of sake. "Hey, Motoko. Can we talk for a minute?"

_Urk!_ Motoko thought. _Has she come to chew me out for spying on her the other day?_ "Ah, sure. What's on your mind?" she asked uneasily.

_Dammit, am I going to be viewed as the dictator from now on?_ "It's not anything about you," she replied gently. "It's something that you might know from your studies."

"Okay," Motoko gave a relieved smile. "I can try. Is there a problem at school?"

"Maybe." Now it was Naru's turn to feel uneasy. "I want to know more about the law before I go in, fists swinging. It's about age of consent laws."

"Oho!" Kitsune leered. "Does Keitaro have a rival in one of the boy students?"

"So, talk outside?" Naru asked, rubbing her knuckles.

"Sure," Motoko said, putting her _shinai _away.

"If you say, 'it was worth it,' Kitsune, I'll hit you myself!" Mutsumi growled, getting out the first aid kit for the two lumps on Kitsune's head.

"So, age of consent laws?" Motoko asked, after they were seated outside.

"Yes, in one of by classes, a girl was wearing an engagement ring."

"An _engagement_ ring? I thought you were teaching middle school."

"I am. It doesn't look like a fake, and I don't think it's her mother's. It fits too well." Naru sighed. "I'm hoping it will turn out to be nothing."

Motoko rubbed her chin and thought for a moment. "We've studied this a bit. The problem is, the laws of Japan are a bit conflicting. The laws on child pornography are weak because of this."

Naru winced.

"So," Motoko continued, "First, we have the penal laws. Article 177 forbids any sexual activity with a minor under 13, consensual or not. Second, the Child Welfare Act defines a child as anyone below the age of 18 years. Article 34 of the Act forbids any person from causing a child to commit obscene acts. The same law restricts the minimum age of marriage for girls to 16."

_Hmm, that was close to when Shinobu was chasing after Keitaro, _Naru thought. "I don't think this girl could be older than fifteen."

"Well, it gets more confusing. Most of the prefectures have obscenity statutes or laws against 'corruption of minors.' It's illegal to engage in sexual activities with partners who are below this age unless a parent or guardian approves of the romantic relationship."

"What kind of guardian would want to give consent to _that_?"

"Probably one wanting to get the girl married off," Motoko replied, remembering back when Tsuruko had disowned her and then tried to force her into a marriage with Keitaro. "Anyway, if this girl is from Tokyo, she'd have to be 18. In a few provinces at 16, and on a couple of outlying islands a girl can get married at 13."

"I had no idea it was so…anarchical here," Naru sweatdropped.

"There are definitely problems here," Motoko confirmed, "and people do take advantage of them. Child pornography for example, but that doesn't apply here… I hope."

"So, there's nothing I can do?"

"I'd start by making sure it really is an engagement ring," Motoko said. "Then find out if her parents gave their consent. If they didn't, then they're the ones who can press charges."

"Thank you, Motoko," Naru replied. "This was quite an education. I was hoping that I'd be just overreacting over nothing. But at least now I know how to make a plan for this. I just hope I don't overreact."

Motoko smiled. "I remember how you defended us from Keitaro's mishaps when we were minors. If he had been a predator, I think we would have been in good hands with you looking out for us, and I think this girl is in good hands with you looking out for her."

.

.

**Author notes**

The measurements Keitaro and Makie are using are ancient Polynesian. _Ha'alima_ is the length of hand + forearm. A _muku_ is the length between the extended fist of one arm to the other elbow if you were aiming a bow. A _anana_ is the width of both arms outstretched. Since these depend on the size of the individual making the original measurements, there will be problems in getting precise measurements.

"then get ready to open the tea room and the bath for customers." While it's never actually a plot point, there are signs in the manga that the hot springs are open to the public during the daytime hours for ¥400.

"Anteiki" (安定期). When the baby is considered stable and not likely to miscarry. Birth announcements are sent at this time (about 16 weeks)

"This is only my third month." No, we didn't skip a month. Only a month has passed since the end of _Forever and a Day_. In past chapters, I had Naru saying she was one month along or two months along. But I recently discovered that in Japan, the first month starts on the date of conception, and pregnancy is considered to be ten months. I _should _have had Naru saying "this is my second month" when she discovered she was pregnant at the end of _FAAD._

"Nyam's" That's not a typo. That's his pet name for Nyamo.

"Rika Sasaki." A character from _Cardcaptor Sakura_. This upcoming subplot was inspired by the WTF? moment I had reading the manga involving her and her teacher.

"What kind of laws do you expect to be broken here?" Unfortunately, prior to 2018, Haruna's attitude was common. For example, between 2008-2018, annual sexual abuse cases in schools jumped from 40,000/year to 240,000/year.

"Child pornography for example" Researching, I learned that attempts to pass laws banning it didn't begin until 2008 (this story takes place in 2006). Possession of child pornography was not criminalized until 2014. (Producing or selling it was made illegal in 1999).


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**: _Reconnaissance_

"_Alpha Bravo One to Alpha Mike India One dash One, Over."_

Groaning, Emori set his coffee aside—it wasn't as good as Nyam's—got to his feet and headed over to the radio unit. _Too early for this_. It was 0530, and orders didn't come in usually for another Bravo One was Army Base One, the Command and Control of the operation. Alpha Mike India One One—Army Motorized Infantry One was his unit's designation. The "dash-one" was him, as leader of the unit.

Private Kuluna handed the handset over to him.

"Alpha Mike India One dash One, over."

"_We need you to check out a cloud of smoke, twenty clicks south-southwest, grid 27._" Emori's Colonel got straight to the point.

"Map!" Emori hissed to his radio operator. Hastily unfolding it, he checked it out. "Roger. Looks like Ectbana in the area." Ectbana was a small town between the jungle and the desert. "We'll check it out right away sir. Hope it's just some locals doing a slash and burn."

"_I hope so too. Alpha Bravo One out_." Slash and burn farming was illegal, but some of the poorer farmers still tried to get extra cropland. If that was all it was, the poor bastard was going to be in trouble when they showed up. _But, if it was the rebels, that column of smoke probably means civilian casualties_.

.

.

_This feels like it will be a good day._ Keitaro felt much better this morning than he had previously since he landed on Pararakelse. Last night, he had finally been able to talk to Naru. Ten minutes a week at the ¥1000/minute rate on the satellite phone was all they could afford in non-emergency situations. But hearing her voice was revitalizing. He counted his blessings. _I was lucky enough to marry her, lucky enough that she reconciled with me_.

Naru was happy to hear that he had taken precautions with Makie and put up a barrier against any further attempts. "_Just watch your back,_" she had said. "_I trust you, but I don't trust her to let you go without trying something._"

Meanwhile, he was happy to hear that the reports on her pregnancy and her psychiatric visits were positive. "_Keep on doing your best_," he had told her. "_I love you and I love our baby_."

They finished their time on the phone—after Naru had checked for eavesdroppers—with whispered descriptions of what they wanted to do to each other when he got back.

As a result, he felt ready to deal with whatever antics Makie might try.

He walked over to the battery banks on the back of the truck to plug the phone in to make sure it would be fully charged when needed. He then hurriedly walked around to the other side of the truck to answer the call of nature, fumbling with his zipper… and threw his hands up as he crashed into Makie—who had just taken off her bra—knocking her flat.

_What is she trying to pull here_? he thought, uncomfortably aware of the fact that his hands had made contact with something soft and feminine as they collided.

The next thing he knew, he was struck in the head by a flung shampoo bottle. Reeling, he saw Nyamo—towel wrapped hastily around her—reaching for a bar of soap to throw. Makie was covering herself with her arms and scrambling for her own towel.

_Oh, shit!_

"_KYAAAAAA!_" both women screamed.

"GET OUT OF HERE, KEITARO!" Nyamo yelled at him.

"HENTAI! BAKA!" Makie shrieked, looking around wildly for a large projectile she could throw without exposing herself. If Keitaro had not spurned her earlier, she might not have objected to the physical contact. But he had and she did.

Keitaro beat a hasty retreat, apologizing all the way.

.

.

Having got a sense about how Juban Middle School worked, Naru was able to focus more on her concerns. There were a few periods during the day where a Haruna would be teaching but she would not, so she could look up records.

She looked with distaste at the tracker in her hand. Su had volunteered the use of her tracker to keep an eye on problem students. _Wouldn't I be hypocritical to use them, after getting angry with their spying on me?_ Sighing, she placed it in the counter. _I won't use it unless I think she's in danger, and right now I don't know that_.

"Come on, Hachi, let's go for a walk," she said cheerfully. Hachi responded with a rapid fire barrage of enthusiastic barks.

Having talked to Keitaro the night before, she felt calmer, knowing she had his support and that he had laid down the law with that Saito woman. It was good to know he'd be staying out of trouble.

.

.

"You have tomorrow if you keep on living," Makie muttered angrily to herself as she finished sponging herself off. If Keitaro had been interested in her, it wouldn't have been _so_ bad. But as it stood, she was mortified by the encounter and just as angry at Keitaro as she would have been if it had been any other man… more because she still resented their last encounter in Port Oxley. She felt violated.

"Don't you Japanese have a saying, 'There's nothing you can do about it, so just pretend you were bit by a dog'?" Nyamo said, soothingly.

Makie, who had emptied a bucket of water over her to rinse, stared blankly. "What does that mean?" She had never heard that one before.

Nyamo looked away, feeling foolish. "I read it in a manga when I was a kid… _Maison Ikkoku_."

"That one was before my time," Makie replied with a shrug.

Once dressed, they came out to where the crew were gathered for Artyom's briefing.

"…so, are any issues?"

"Yes," Makie said, icily. "Can we put up some barriers in the bathing area so perverts don't come walking in." She folded her arms over her breasts and glared at Keitaro.

"Hey! Nobody told me about it being over there!" Keitaro snapped back.

_Please tell me these idiots aren't going to cause trouble_. "We set rules last night. Men use spring behind that truck in evening. Women in morning. I guess you don't hear while you do 'wife time.'" Artyom said.

The other members of the crew nodded.

Keitaro sighed. Everyone knew but him. 'Wife time' was when a member of the mostly male crew used the satellite phone to call his wife. Everyone gave the person a wide berth because it was personal, and sometimes explicit. _I guess I should have checked the bulletin board after my call_. "All right, I'm at fault here." He turned to Nyamo. "I'm sorry. I'll remember that rule in the future. And you too," he said to Makie as an afterthought.

Nyamo looked mollified. But Makie scowled, turning away.

"Cut me some slack!" Keitaro growled peevishly at the embarrassment. "I said I was sorry!"

_Dammit Keitaro!_ Nyamo thought, sweatdropping. _You saw her half naked and accidentally groped her. Think about how she feels right now!_

"Just remember your own boundary," Makie said in Japanese, "'so that you are a person who never does something like that again.'" She imitated his voice in saying it.

That stung, as he remembered Makie had been trying to apologize to him when he said it to her in the first place. He vaguely remembered the story Naru said she heard at the Church in Nagasaki. Something about forgiving to be forgiven. _Maybe I ought to be a little nicer. _"Makie…" he said placatingly.

"Just don't talk to me unless it has to do with work." She stormed over to one of the trucks and retrieved her surveying equipment. "My crew, let's get this set up and calibrated," she called out.

Keitaro sighed and headed over to prepare the digging equipment for the day. Nyamo caught up with him.

"Hey, you all right?" she asked.

"Not really," Keitaro said. "On one hand, well, I did tell Artyom to keep her away from me outside of work. So I can hardly complain about her saying the same thing to me."

"And on the other?" Nyamo prompted.

"I'm annoyed that she won't accept that it was an accident and that the two situations aren't equal. I have to make sure that she respects the boundaries between us."

Nyamo sweatdropped. "Well… I'm a bit used to it. That doesn't mean I am ok with it, but when I first met you and Naru, I was more afraid of you two yelling in a language I didn't know and seeing Naru punch you than I was of you seeing me naked. But Makie hasn't seen more than a sample of your accidents, so it's probably a lot more frightening for her when you walk in and accidentally grope her."

"Hmm, maybe I should go talk to her." He stopped abruptly as Nyamo grabbed the edge of his shirt.

"Don't. Right now, she's mad. Let it wait until the embarrassment fades." _How did he ever live long enough to marry Naru with survival instincts like that?_

.

.

The scene in the kitchen was more normal compared with yesterday. That didn't mean everything was calm—that would not mean normal in Hinata House—but things were functioning more smoothly in the chaos. Shinobu has done lunch preparation the night before, so she could focus on breakfast.

After Naru and Sara got back from walking Hachi, Sara grabbed her bag and bento. "No time for breakfast, gotta go!" She was out in a flash.

"Sara's rushing to get to school early?" Haruka asked, surprised. "Never thought I'd see that."

"Maybe she has day duty?" Motoko shrugged, sipping her tea.

Everyone looked at Ema, who shook her head. "I don't know. We don't have the same classroom, and even before the break we ran in different circles."

Motoko got up from the table. "I'll be home later than usual. I need to spend time in the law library after my classes are over."

Shinobu served everyone else. "See you, Motoko." She looked at the others. "So, who has the afternoon duty?"

_Afternoon duty?_ Naru thought.

"I don't have any other obligations today," Kanako said. "I can be there."

A lot of chatter followed on clubs and other obligations. Naru observed, remembering her own college days. Kanako, Su, and Mutsumi would have to prepare for their final exams before graduating. Shinobu and Motoko didn't.

_I'll have to help keep things quiet for them_.

When it was time to head down to catch the streetcar, they were able to do it in an orderly fashion, to the relief of the other passengers.

.

.

"This is Alpha Mike India One dash One to Alpha Base One, Over." Emori's eyes swept over the carnage as he handed the handset.

Private Haluna, his radio operator, slowly stood up and wiped his sleeve over his mouth. "Sorry sir," he said queasily.

"It's okay. We were all rookies once." Personally he felt like vomiting himself. There were at least thirty civilians lying dead in the town square. Men, women, children… all indiscriminately snuffed out by those bastards. _People like Nyam_, he thought. The worst was the mother and baby—both killed by the same bullet. And that was just the town square. The town once had some four hundred people living there. If there were any survivors, they hadn't come out of hiding.

"_Alpha Base One_, go ahead."

"We cleared Ectbana. It looks like the rebels killed everyone they could find and fled before we arrived. I think it was to make sure nobody could tell us where they went. Looks like they looted the town for gas and food. They also destroyed the gas station to prevent anyone using it."

"_Roger_." The colonel's voice sounded like he felt. Cold, trying to restrain his anger so it wouldn't get in the way of his job. "_We'll be sending two units to help you, and a third to take care of the civilians. Your unit is to get ready to move out, keep searching for those rebels so we can stop them from doing any more of this. Is that clear_?"

"Yes sir." Emori knew what the colonel meant. The unit had been getting the bodies placed and covered in a more dignified fashion. That would have to stop until the assigned unit took over. "Alpha Mike India One dash One out."

.

.

_Rika Sasaki_, Naru thought to herself as she perused the file. _What sort of person are you?_ The records showed that the girl was considered kind but quiet. She didn't belong to any clubs. Her closest friends from Primary School were attending another school. She had some friends here. Still a good student, but some falling off since she came here. Not known to have a boyfriend… or a close female friend. _Times __**are**_ _changing,_ she reminded herself. _So who would give you an 'engagement ring?'_

She jotted down some notes. _After school? Where does she go? Who does she meet? What time does she get home? HOW does she go home? Answer these before home visit_.

"Good morning, Urashima-san," Haruna said, returning from one of her classes. "Busy?"

"Hello, Haruna-_senpai_," Naru replied. "I'm just doing some preparation, getting to know about my students."

"I see," Haruna said, coming around to do just that. "A home visit? Are you sure that's wise? We try to avoid disruption here."

Naru nodded. "I don't _want _to do it. But that ring's not a toy and it's not cheap. It fits her perfectly. So, I talked to one of my friends who's studying to be a lawyer. Unless her parents gave their permission to be in a romantic relationship with an older man, something smells here." She gestured to her notes. "I just want to be sure of my facts before I take any action."

Haruna grimaced. "It does happen at times," she conceded. "Back in the 90s, before they changed the laws, we'd sometimes see college students go after high school students, or even middle schoolers." _Whatever happened with that nitwit all those years ago?_ She sighed. "And there's always a concern about the occasional photographer showing up at field days and school fairs. But what can we do if nobody makes a complaint?" She shrugged. "Not much."

_I should have asked Motoko about that_, Naru thought. "I could ask my friend…" she offered.

"Oh Urashima-san," she said gently admonishing. "If you want to make a career out of being a teacher, you need to learn not to rock the boat."

.

.

Major Anzara, formerly of the Pararakelsean military and now a wanted man, glared at the map. _If those stupid farm boy excuses for soldiers hadn't been trigger-happy, we wouldn't be in this mess_. He had wanted witnesses locked up in the local church so they could get away after looting supplies. But one of the civilians resisted and his men started shooting.

_Now they'll come after us looking for blood_. Getting to the coast now to escape would be difficult. _We need to find a place to lay low!_

"Start heading East by Southeast," he ordered his driver.

"Sir? That's going into the desert."

Anzara backhanded the driver. Awkward, given they were sitting next to each other. But it got his point across. "Shut the fuck up and do it!" Men were starting to question his orders now. _I'll probably have to shoot somebody soon_. "There's supposed to be an oasis out there. We need to hide after what your idiot friends did back in Ectbana."

.

.

Ema was returning from the bathroom, trying to get in much of her lunch break as possible before classes resumed. Shinobu had warned them that Tachikawa High School—which she had also attended—was strict, and she had been right. The education was great, but the regimented style made her appreciate her free time.

She stopped by a vending machine to picked up a canned coffee when she saw Sara creep out of her classroom and sneak over to the stairs heading to the roof.

_What's she up to?_ Ema wondered. The two girls traveled in different social circles that seldom intersected, but they did share a sort of "Hinata sisterhood," looking out for each other. So Ema followed along, wishing she had Leon's color change ability so she wouldn't get caught doing reconnaissance.

Sara slipped out onto the roof and made her way over to a teenage boy with blue hair and wearing a beanie. "Give me a cigarette," Sara said curtly.

"Give me a kiss first, Sara-chan," he leered.

Sara rolled her eyes, but gave him a quick peck, before lighting up.

Ema was appalled. Sara smoking, casually kissing a boyfriend, and that boyfriend was _Kokeru Moroboshi_ of all people… _Ema knew t_here would be hell to pay from Sara if she told anyone and hell to pay from Haruka if she didn't. But, since Sara would know if she _did_ tell and Haruka might not know if she didn't, Ema decided that discretion was the important thing.

That and getting off the roof unseen. She did her best to silently ease the door to the roof access. But she made a slight scraping sound with it and Sara—beleaguered by balancing her cigarette and fending off Kokeru's advances—somehow heard it.

While she said nothing, Sara's eyes narrowed as she looked at Ema… then widened again. "WATCH YOUR HANDS!" she snarled, punching in to the roofing tarmac.

.

.

It was nearing the end of lunch when Naru had tracked down two of Rika's friends, Chitose Urata and Kahoru Hayato. They immediately clammed up when she approached, limiting themselves to a polite greeting. "Hello, sensei," Chitose said as they both bowed. "How can we help you?"

_Keep calm, and you can press them,_ she thought. "I need to talk to you about Rika Sasaki," she said coolly. "I'm told you are her closest friends here."

The two girls exchanged a puzzled look. "Ah," Kahoru said, hesitantly. "We hang out together at school, but not outside of it. I hear her closest friend is Sakura Kinomoto over at Tomoeda Middle School."

"I see," Naru replied, wondering how she would make _that_ connection before the girl went home. "What sorts of things do you all do together after school?" she asked, scraping for clues.

Another uncomfortable pause. "I… couldn't say," Chitose said. "After school, she heads to the gate and gets picked up in a red sports car. I guess it's her dad. She never sticks around." She hesitated, as if trying to decide how much to say. "I wish she would hang around with us more. She's nice, you know? But she has a life outside of Juban."

After thanking the girls—who sighed with relief being out of the scrutiny of the teacher—Naru headed back to the teachers' office. _Red sports car, father… what kind of job does he have that he'd be off so early, yet have that kind of money_? _Does this Kinomoto_ _girl know anything_? She sighed. _I don't even know if anything is dodgy yet. Should I keep going? Or should I stop rocking the boat?_

.

.

This time, they found the marker between the best and worst case margin of errors. Keitaro wiped what felt like a liter of sweat from his brow and signaled his find. This time it had been the surveying team with the crosswords and dominoes, so Artyom and Makie hurried out to get the surveying spikes in the ground.

"I was beginning to think we wouldn't find it at all," Keitaro said after draining his water bottle. "I wonder why this was so divergent from the last set."

Makie shrugged, feeling defensive. _Play nice_, she told herself. She and Artyom had a talk that afternoon and he had warned her that he was a bit annoyed with both her and Keitaro. "That far in the past, all we can do is guess. I imagine that guy making the map was rushed or tired in the sun." She handed him a fresh water bottle. "Things like that is why I always try to include a 'worst case' scenario in my readings."

"Oh, sorry. I'm not blaming you," Keitaro said, remembering his own talk with Artyom. "We found it _inside_ your estimated area, after all."

Makie nodded absently, already working on the problem, gazing at the skyline. "Let's see, the first reading was North to South, the second was facing West… hmm." She pulled out a calculator and began tapping in numbers. "Umm…"

"As I say," Artyom said with a smile. "She good with what she does, like you with digging." He beamed like a proud father. "Things keep up, we may have good luck on this."

.

.

It had taken all damn day, but Emori's soldiers finally found the traces. "Sir," Corporal Benneda came up, saluting. "They're zigzagging, but the general direction seems to be heading East from here. Doesn't make much sense though. What the f- erm, sorry sir, what are they going out there for? That's into the middle of the desert…" he stopped, staring at Emori. "Umm, Sir? Are you feeling all right?"

Emori felt a ball of ice materialize in his stomach and he staggered. "Oh my God…" he whispered, horrified. "Nyam's out there!"

.

.

Kanako was nothing if not efficient. She was walking to the teacher's lounge to meet her brother's wife when suddenly Naru rushed past her. _Hey, should she be running around like that when she's carrying oniisan's baby?_ Turning about face, she hurried after.

_Rika"s friends weren't kidding when she said she rushed to get out of here_, Naru thought, breathing heavily. The bells had barely chimed and the Class Rep had barely finished the "Stand! Bow!" before Rika was out the door.

Naru had hurried after, but had reached the gate only to see a red sports car drive off.

"Tama 200, Ha 37-45" Kanako said, softly, at her elbow.

"What?" Naru asked, puzzled and startled to see the younger woman.

"The license number of that car. Was that the girl you were worried about?"

"Yes. I'm probably worried about nothing but-"

"I don't think you are," Kanako replied. "That's a sporty two seat car, not the kind of car you'd expect a family to own, kind of pricy. I could see a bachelor owning a car like that, you know… the kind of person with no family expenses."

"Damn," Naru muttered softly. "I guess I'm going to have to set up a parent teacher meeting after all."

.

.

**Author Notes**:

"There were a few periods during the day where a Haruna would be teaching but she would not." New teachers do not teach as many classes as veterans. The teachers who mentor also have fewer classes so they can monitor the new teacher.

"Don't you Japanese have a saying" I saw it used in the old translation of _Maison Ikkoku_. But Google seems to have no knowledge about it as a saying.

"I have to spend time in the law library." I made an error in _Forever and a Day _based on the manga translation. I assumed that Mutsumi had attended a four year program and was now on a 2 year Masters program. I assumed Motoko would have to do the same. But apparently, both medicine and law are _six_ year programs (ending in the equivalent of a Masters), not 4 + 2. However, Makie would be on a 4 + 2 program, having completed her Bachelors equivalent and working on her Masters.

"we'd sometimes see college students go after high school students, or even middle schoolers" A reference to _Fushigi Yuugi_ and _Sailor Moon_ respectively. Apparently nobody heard of "Mandatory Reporters" at that time.

"Tachikawa High School, which she had also attended". Shinobu's high school apparently was never given a name, but it was based on a real school called _Tachikawa_, so I just decided to go with that.

"Kokeru Moroboshi." In _Urusei Yatsura_, Kokeru was the future son of Ataru Moroboshi. I figured he'd take after his father. He was originally going to be a character in _Forever and a Day_, but I wanted to cut down on the bloat that would distract from the main story.

"Tama 200, Ha 37-45" The general structure of a Japanese license plate is two rows. The top row is the prefecture (Tama is Tokyo) followed by a 3 digit number. The second row is a hiragana letter followed by two numbers, a dash, and two more numbers. There's no Easter egg references here. Just picked out at random.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen:** _Closing In_

Things were gradually settling into a routine at the camp. The surveying crew, led by Makie, started early. The digging crew, led by Keitaro, started later but finished later too. That let him sleep a little later in the morning… in theory.

"_WE'RE AN AMERICAN BAND! WE'RE AN AMERICAN BAND_!" blasted suddenly from one of the crew's boom boxes, jolting Keitaro awake.

Keitaro groaned and sat up. 6:45 am on the dot. _How is it possible to settle into an __**anarchical **__routine?_ Rubbing his chin, he threw on a pair of pants, and reached for his shoes. _Gonna have to shave before I go home_, he thought. Naru preferred him clean shaven and, missing her, wanted to return to Japan in a form she preferred.

Makie took the next southern bearing. _Looks like my theory might be right_, she thought. The markers the ancient Pararakelsans used were South, and then either East or West. The Southern readings were generally easy to get almost dead center. But the East and West readings could be off. _I bet the difficult finds were when they were measuring into the rising or setting sun_.

Keitaro walked over around then, causing Makie to grit her teeth. _You have tomorrow if you keep on living_, she reminded herself. "Yes?" she asked, coldly.

Keitaro sighed, remembering what Nyamo had told him of what she was mad about. "Just keeping it professional," he began warily. "It seems to me that there's a bit of time lost, between the time that you finish calculating your estimates and the time we get over and start digging." I was wondering… I know your job takes as long as it takes, and I'm not blaming you. But I was wondering if you had ideas on what we could be doing anything to cut down on the time to so you don't have to wait on us."

Makie pondered that, defensively wrapping her arms to cover her breasts. She was still pissed off at him, but Keitaro's question had merit. They were really disorganized compared to past digs, and they only had so much daylight to do readings in, and find the markers. She tried to keep her tone neutral. "I suppose if you want to send somebody from time to time, I can keep you posted on the general status once I start taking my second set of readings. If you want to get to the perimeter of the 'worst case' zone, you'll be that much closer while I do my best case readings. Just don't enter it until I'm done. You might block the landmarks."

That was a bit colder a response than he hoped, but it wasn't the demonic hatred it could have been. "We'll do that. Thanks for the suggestion." He turned back to the camp. Her advice was common sense, except for how sloppy they were this time, but he was more interested in sending out some peace feelers. "The equipment is ready. I'll send somebody by in a half hour." He began walking back to the camp.

"Hey," Makie said. "I know you're in a hurry to get back to Japan. I'll see what I can do on my end too." The tone was a little less frigid. Keitaro wondered if he saw a hint of softening in her expression.

.

.

Things were gradually settling into a routine at Hinata House. Get up, deal with morning sickness, get dressed, deal with Hachi, deal with breakfast and get ready to catch the streetcar. This time, it was Su's turn to wait for Naru after classes were done… which was never routine.

She rubbed her legs as she prepared to put on her nylons. _I'm going to have to shave them before he comes home_, she thought. _He's not going to want me less than smooth down there._ She wasn't a slob, but without him there, she had less reason to do that particular chore. Still, she wanted to be in a form he preferred when he returned to Japan.

She sighed, missing him, but at least she could at least move forward with her life, unlike when she was on Pararakelse_._

_If it wasn't for this thing with Rika, this would be a comfortable routine to go through until Keitaro returned,_ she mused. Unfortunately, today _was_ the day of her home visit to the Sasaki household. Since she was going right after school, she reluctantly accepted one of Su's trackers so she could be found.

Not everything was smooth though.

"Where are you going so early?" Haruka said to Sara.

"Just to school," Sara snapped back, immediately raising her stepmother's mistrust and ire.

"You never used to go early," Haruka growled back. "So what's _really _going on?"

"Are ya saying you don't trust me?" Sara snapped. "I don't have time for this!"

Naru thought Ema looked suddenly nervous. _How odd. _No, she amended, watching Sara glare at Ema, _how suspicious_. It was obvious that Sara had secrets, and Ema knew something.

But Sara was already darting out the door and down the hill, leaving Haruka irritated at more than just a lack of nicotine.

"Damn that girl!" she growled. "It seems like no matter what I do, she's going to fight me.

Kitsune looked at her sympathetically. "Ten years ago, that was me." _And_ _I hope she doesn't wind up like me today._ "Maybe, I should say something?" She said it dubiously, like it needed to be done but didn't think she would succeed.

"Maybe we should look into what's going on first?" Naru suggested, sensing her friend's unease. "Is there something serious going on? Or is it just the typical teenage rebellion? She comes by to help me with Hachi every morning and evening. Maybe the topic could 'come up'?"

Kitsune smiled, relieved. Not just over getting off the hook. _Ever since she and Kei got back together and started seeing the doctor, she's regained a lot of confidence._ That was a good thing. Naru had always been the unofficial leader. _I never realized how hard that was until I had to take her place._

Haruka smiled, also relieved. "Thanks Naru." She considered Kitsune a good friend, but worried about what sort of _advice _she might offer. She didn't want _be careful about guys' intentions _to be limited to _make sure you have contraception on hand._

.

.

Things were gradually settling into a routine in the search and destroy mission. Send out the scouts, have them report on the material, evaluate it. Then try to work with HQ and other units to plot the probable path of the rebels. _We need more helicopters_, he grumbled to himself. The military had three, and they were used for helping rebuild Port Oxley. Admittedly, they were necessary where they were, but dammit, the rebels were heading in Nyam's general direction.

Lieutenant Kidd hurried up, saluting. "Sir, we have some bad news," he said breathlessly.

"Must I wait for it?" Emori didn't care for being jerked around when that meant delaying the important information.

"Oh." Kidd cringed, then continued. "The rebels seem to have turned directions to the south. They may be heading for Ralato."

That was moving away from Nyamo and towards the habitable zone. Good for him, terrible for those people living in Ralato—especially after what happened in Ectbana. Emori felt ashamed of his initial sense of relief. "How solid is this information?"

"Sir, we found a broken water tank about twelve miles in. Then the trucks stopped about fifteen miles into the desert. There were footprints all over the place. Then the vehicles turned south."

"All right," Emori nodded. Kidd was a good soldier. He just had to get experience. _He might get it too,_ he mused. That would mean men getting killed… potentially some of his own. _Bad business_. Getting to his feet, Emori reached for the map. "Do we have a heading?"

"It's varying sir. But if they change direction outright it will be a change."

"All right. Get Halama over here with the radio set. I want to coordinate with the other units. Let's see if we can trap and nail these bastards before anyone else loses his life." He remembered watching _Patton_ as a kid on DVD. The quote about making the other guy die for his country instead was in his mind… except that they were from the same country and the other guy had betrayed it.

.

.

"So, you're determined to go through with this, Naru?" Haruna asked, apprehensively, setting down her cup of tea. "Are you sure this is wise?"

"Yes," Naru replied, cautiously. She had been more confident until she saw Haruna's reaction. "There are just too many red flags on this, and I think RIka's parents should be informed." She sighed. "I just think of the high school students in our dorm. I'm sure their parents would want to know what was going on if they were in this situation."

Haruna gave her a _Well, it's your funeral_ look. "Well, you _do_ have that right. I just hope you don't regret it. I think you'd be a good permanent addition to our school, and I hate to see you risk it over something that's probably nothing."

_I wonder how many other cases there are out there where the teachers stayed silent out of fear_. "I hate to risk it too," she replied. "But at the end of the day, I don't think my conscience would let me do nothing."

_It was nice knowing you_, Haruna thought sourly. "Well, it's about time for the first class. Let's see if the students do better with algebra under your system."

They ended up passing Rika in the hall, heading to her own classroom. She gave Naru a hard look as they went past each other. Probably on account of her friends telling her about the questions. _I hope that doesn't mean trouble during the visit._

As it turned out, the first year students had been mis taught the rudiments of algebra by her predecessors. So, Naru was kept busy getting them to understand… too busy to worry about her other plans.

.

.

This time, Makie had got the measurements almost dead center. Nyamo had barely broken a sweat before Keitaro called out, "Got it! Turtle with… five legs? At least I _hope_ that's supposed to be a leg. Looks like it's facing to the west."

Makie smiled. "Okay, let's see if we can get this set up before the sun begins to set. The next one will probably be less accurate if my theory is correct."

"Oh?" Artyom asked. "Is problem?" He remembered the wasted dig when their calculations led them into the middle of a _yeblya_ poor residential district instead of the temple district.

"Not on our end," Makie replied. "But I think the ancient Pararakelsans had a problem with the measurements they took going into the sun. I've noticed the East-West measurements have a greater margin of error than the North-South line."

"Okay," Keitaro said, smiling. "We'll make sure we're rested for that dig. I was _wondering_ why every other one was rough." He looked around. "Looks like half a klick from where we dug last time. This feels right this time."

Makie smiled, forgetting to be mad at him.

.

.

To Naru's surprise, it was Mutsumi who was waiting for her at the school, not Su, when she got out of class. "Change of plans?"

"I thought you had enough trouble dealing with one reckless child being distracted with another one," Mutsumi said sweetly. "Do you need anything before we go?"

_Good point,_ Naru thought. The meeting might require some tact—and _Su_ and _Tact_ didn't belong in the sentence without a _has no_ between the words. "No, let's just get this over with before I lose my nerve," Naru replied. "It occurs to me that if I'm wrong or acting impulsively, I'm opening myself up for a disciplinary hearing."

Mutsumi placed her hand on Naru's shoulder. "You may have lost your temper with Kei-kun sometimes, but that was always spontaneous. But this is something you have been thinking on for awhile. Besides, isn't it better to be cautious and find out there was nothing to worry about than to do nothing and find out there was something to worry about?"

They reached the gate in time to see a red sports car drive off. Seeing Naru stare at it, Mutsumi thought for a moment. "You know, Nacchan? I think there are two things to consider here if the person in the car is the one who gave her the ring. First, since you need to be 18 to get a license here, he has to be much older than her. Second, if he is here every day, then he has a job that gets off of work before the average salary-man. Third—"

Naru sweatdropped at the mis-numbering.

"—it's a pricey car, and while Juban is a nice district, I don't think a family who sends their children to school here would be able to afford a two seater like that. So, something smells here."

It was a ten minute trip, involving the train, a transfer to another line, and a bus. _Thankfully, my bladder and my feet are under control here, _Naru thought. _I'd hate to have to deal with that while trying to look professional_.

Mrs. Sasaki had been laying out the tea tray when they arrived, and apprehensively hurried to the door when the bell rang. She had been worried about the visit since the school had called her the night before. Rika had said she had no idea why the new teacher wanted a home visit. _It must be because she's a new teacher and is visiting all the students_, she thought.

At the door, she saw two women in their mid to late 20s. The younger one with a maternity mark on her blouse. "Good afternoon," she said, bowing.

"Good afternoon," the two women responded. The younger one continued, "I an Naru Urashima, and I teach at your daughter's school. This is my friend, Mutsumi Otohime. I apologize for the inconvenience of bringing someone along, but since…" she gestured to her maternity mark, "my friends want to make sure the baby and I are safe." She faltered for a moment. "I imagine that sounds foolish."

"Not at all," Mrs. Sasaki said, leading them into the living room. "I remember my first pregnancy. Every little thing had me convinced I had done something terrible and would hurt the baby before he was born." She smiled. "It gets easier—well, easier is the wrong word—it gets more familiar after the first one."

After pouring the tea, Naru said, "I apologize for the inconvenience of this visit, and I hope I am worried about nothing. There are a few things I need to find out if you are aware of. If you are, then I am sorry for the inconvenience." She had been expecting a wary, if not hostile, response. But Mrs. Sasaki had been welcoming.

"_Ara,_ that sounds serious," Mrs. Sasaki said. "I wish Rika-chan could have been here for the meeting, but she has her after school clubs until late. What sort of things?"

Naru and Mutsumi exchanged a look. "Club meetings?" So Rika was lying to her mother. That was worrisome. Well, hopefully it was just happenstance. "Well, first of all, does your husband drive a red sports car?"

"My husband? No, he commutes by train. The cost of a vehicle is a luxury when you live in Tokyo."

"Ah," Naru said, dismayed that two pieces of the puzzle did fit. "The second question is, have you and your husband given her permission to be in a romantic relationship?"

Mrs. Sasaki almost dropped her teacup. "Of course not! She's fourteen, much too young for that! She's supposed to wait for dating until she's finished with high school! What are you implying with these questions?"

_So, there was a bit of stress beneath the polite reception. _"The third question I have to ask is, have you or another relative lent or given her a ring? A gold band with a stone set into it?"

"Now you're being ridiculous, Mrs. Urashima. That sounds like you're describing an engagement… ring." Her voice trailed off, seeing Naru's expression. "Wh- what has my daughter been up to?"

"Well," Naru began, sighing. "Apparently at school she refers to it as an 'engagement ring….'" She began to relate the events she had noticed: her being picked up by the red car after school, and the engagement ring. "The fact that her actual schedule is different from what she told you also seems suspicious. I was hoping that there was an innocent misunderstanding here," she said. "But I reached the point where I figured I would be burying my head in the sand if I didn't schedule this meeting."

Naru bowed deeply. "I am sorry, Mrs. Sasaki. I hope there is some innocuous reason to fit the facts, but I thought it would be better for you to know than to do nothing."

"I do not hold you accountable. You managed to discover this in the three days you were here… the school didn't notice it in the three _years_ that Rika was there." She brought her hands down hard on the tabletop, hard. "An _engagement_ ring? And it was common knowledge? How could they do nothing about it?" Mrs. Sasaki brushed her eyes, irritated. "I- I think I have some things to look into before my daughter gets home. If you'll excuse me…?"

As they left, Naru thought of what Haruna had said. _If you want to make a career out of being a teacher, you need to learn not to rock the boat_. She wondered how widespread that problem was.

"_Ara_, that was troubling," Mutsumi said softly as they walked away from the house.

"Yes, for me, the fact that Mrs. Sasaki told me that she thought her daughter was at after school clubs felt like the proof that this isn't just an innocent misunderstanding. That girl's hiding something."

She thought for a moment. "Ema still goes to her cram school on Wednesdays when school is in question, doesn't she?"

"I believe so," Mutsumi said, perplexed by the change of topic. "Why do you ask?"

"Well," Naru replied grimly, "This has reminded me of Sara's fight with Haruka. I think Ema knows something—and I think I ought to find out what before I make any hasty judgments."

.

.

The sixth marker was a hard find. Partially because Makie turned out to be right on the East-West variations, and partially because the search area was strewn with rocks, and was also where a number of turtles were sunning themselves—some of them gargantuan in size. They didn't want to move, and when they finally responded to coaxing, they moved about one foot before slumping back down.

"Oh, come on," Keitaro grumbled to one particularly stubborn large turtle, "You have a whole damned desert to sun yourself in!"

"Myuh!" it had responded, digging in more stubbornly.

But at last they found the marker, a six-legged crocodile.

"At least that's less problematic than the five legged turtle," Makie smirked. "Anyway," she continued, "I'm thinking that what we want has to be within that region." She swept her arm in an arc that was well apart from the previous digging area that had turned out to be a disappointment last dig. "Assuming all goes well, we could hit the spot we're looking for by the end of tomorrow."

"It would be nice heading back to Japan, knowing that we found it before I left," Keitaro said excitedly. For a brief moment he was tempted by the thought of staying on to excavate the library but… _No, It's time to put Naru and our child first,_ he thought to himself.

Makie found herself looking at Keitaro in a new light. _He really does love that woman. I don't know how or why, but he does. I guess I never had a right to come between them even when I thought they were divorcing_. She had no idea that she was echoing Shinobu and Motoko on the matter. "It'll be a good way to begin your graduate studies with a discovery like that."

They exchanged a smile. Neither was one of romantic attraction, but of camaraderie.

.

.

Ema folded like a cheap paper fan when Naru showed up at the cram school to question her on Sara.

"I didn't say anything because I knew she'd be mad if I said anything to give her away!" she said defensively.

"This Moroboshi kid is a sleaze, you say? How do you think Haruka will act if she finds out you did know?"

"I figured Sara finding out if I talked was guaranteed. Haruka-san finding out if I didn't was less certain! But yes, Kokeru has a reputation among the girls in my class. He's always hitting on them, and they keep hitting him."

"_Ara,_" Mutsumi said. "I can't imagine Sara would want to date somebody like that."

"I can," Naru said, grimly. "If she was rebelling against her mother. I wish Seta hadn't jumped on a plane back to Molmol yesterday."

He had too, spur of the moment, announcing he had made a discovery and needed to do some research. Haruka had taken it in stride. _I'm used to it_, she had said. _No sense getting mad now after all these years._"

At this point it was a ten minute walk back to Hinata House and Naru's feet and bladder were doing all right, so—after a worried question and a patient answer over whether it would be harm the baby—they two women decided to walk, leaving a stressed Ema behind.

_I never should have followed Sara to that roof!_

.

.

Emori fired off a three round burst at one of the rebels as he sought to climb onto the last of the fleeing 6x6. The man jerked violently, slumped to the ground and did not move. He ducked behind a wall and reloaded while soldiers in the jolting, weaving truck returned fire.

His own men were on the ball, providing covering fire for him. Another rebel jerked suddenly and pitched forward out of the back of the truck before the vehicle sped away. The firing tapered off. Slowly, Emori looked around before he stepped out of cover.

"Fire team A," he shouted. "Sweep east, fire team B sweep west. Look for stragglers! The rest of you, look for wounded civilians!" He hoped there weren't any. They had gotten to Ralato before the rebels did, but not enough before to set up an ambush.

Turning to Kidd, he said, "And find out what heading those bastards are taking!"

"Sir," Lieutenant Kidd responded, "I have the initial status report. We have no casualties among our men at the moment!" He cringed, waiting for the blow-up.

Emori sighed. "Yes, I should've waited for that first." _Dammit, keep it together, Emori_. "All right. See to the men. Tell the sarge to get a team together once we're clear!" _Be safe, Nyam!_ He thought. _If I could, I'd blaze a trail out there to you right now!_

A couple of staccato bursts of gunfire reminded him that, despite his personal feelings, he had a job to do.

Readying his rifle, kept low as he began his own observations, forcing himself to be objective. Fire had almost finished turning one of the 6x6 trucks into a charred skeleton. They had stopped that one with a _Carl Gustav_ Recoilless Rifle when it tried to run the barricade. None of the rebels had made it out of the explosion and the ensuing fusillade that followed. Twenty bodies had been recovered from that one. Emori estimated that between a fifth and a fourth of the rebels had been in the truck. _Unless they had a backup camp somewhere… unlikely. It looks like they're trying to stay together_. Still, the 75-80% remaining was enough to be a serious threat to his men if he was careless or distracted.

He looked around. "Get me Halama and the radio set, on the double!" Halama showed up a minute later lugging the set. He must have legged it.

"Sir?" Halama asked, saluting.

"Get HQ on the horn! I think those rebels are heading out to the desert oasis, and if we can get our attack chopper out there it might save lives."

He looked at his own cellphone. There was a good signal from there, but wherever Nyam was, she was too far away from a tower to get a signal. _I should have gotten the satellite phone number from her. I kept putting it off. _Of course, where she worked had a landline, so perhaps…

It was against regulations to use his personal cell phone while on a mission, but this was his beloved at risk here. So he punched in the number.

.

.

Major Anzara swore as they retreated from Ralato. First Some idiot had forgotten to secure the water tank, meaning they had lost half of their water supply. Then somehow the government troops had guessed he had doubled back, and were waiting. One 6x6 destroyed, thirty men lost between the vehicle and the soldiers left behind.

It had to be that Captain Emori Leba. He was one of a cadre of officers who considered the defense of the nation to be a serious matter instead of a job. He inspired other officers to turn their men into well trained units. He'd be a bloodhound. If it was up to him, he'd keep hunting the rebels until the job was done. Fortunately, it wasn't up to him.

"Nothing for it now," he growled to his driver. "We have to find that oasis that those foreign archaeologists are digging at. Hole up there until they lower their guard.

.

.

Dr. Cha was getting ready to head for home. He had had a quiet day running the office, being the only one there. It was getting on to early evening. _Time to spend time with my family, _he thought. With his daughter, Ji-Hwan, getting ready to go off to college in the United States next month and his wife, Hyun-Sil determined to visit Mrs. Urashima in Japan after Ji-Hwan left, the remaining days were precious.

He grabbed his hat and his briefcase—nobody needed a coat an the island except when the typhoons came—and headed towards the door.

Suddenly, the landline rang.

That was unusual. It was used so seldom, that sometimes he wondered why they bothered paying the costs for the thing in the first place. Unusual enough that he thought he had better see to it instead of pretend he hadn't heard it before he left.

"Joint Research Institute, Dr. Cha speaking. How might I help you?"

"Dr. Cha?" The voice was staticky. Probably from a cell phone "This is Captain Emori Laba calling."

"Ah yes, Nyamo's male friend, isn't it? I'm afraid she's off on a dig right now."

"Yes sir," Emori said. "I'm calling because I think the dig may be in danger, and I need the number of their satellite phone. The rebels are moving in that direction, since it's an oasis. I don't know if we can get there before the rebels do, so I want them to get out away from there!"

_But they're almost at the point of finding the library!_ he thought, but didn't say. Human life was more important. "I understand." He rattled off the number. "Since you are apparently are dealing with spotty communication, perhaps I can call from the landline and relay messages while you are out of cell range?"

_Thank you doctor!_ Emori thought to himself. "We're getting ready to pursue now, and will soon be out of range!"

.

.

Keitaro was sitting by the fire, having just finished the beer in his hand, when Makie walked over with two unopened ones. "Flag of truce?" she asked, handing him one of the cans. Since Nyamo was using the Satellite Phone to try to do wife time—or in this case, _Guy I hope to get engaged to_ time—he didn't have any real reason to evade her.

"Sure," he said, keeping his voice calm.

She surprised him by sitting at an appropriate distance. "So, I've been able to do some thinking," she began hesitantly. "While it's true that I only went after you because I thought you were planning on a divorce, I can see now that I was out of line for trying anything prematurely. So, regardless of who misinterpreted who, I was wrong here. So I am sorry."

Keitaro hesitated. He had to admit that Makie wasn't acting any different than Shinobu and Motoko had recently. _I guess I really sent the wrong signals here._ "Thank you for that. I… understand that I had misread some of your intentions too. Having just gotten reconciled with my wife, I thought it was important to keep barriers between us, especially since I have the worst mishaps. I'm sorry about that too."

Makie smiled slightly. "Maybe next time, keep your fists clenched around women?" Of course, that would probably mean she'd get punched _there_ a lot, but better that pain than the embarrassment of constantly getting accidentally groped.

The two of them shared a laugh over that. Then Makie looked at him. "I will have to go back to Todai before the next term begins, and I was thinking I should probably take some time and apologize to Naru personally, but would I be welcome to do so? Or would my presence be offensive?"

Keitaro pondered that. While Naru had made her peace with him, she still tended to react angrily to the mention of Makie. "I don't know," he said cautiously. "I've learned that I shouldn't make decisions about her without involving her in the process. So, I think I should probably ask her if she is okay with that or if she just doesn't want to meet with you." He finished his beer. "I won't try to pressure her either way on this. All I can do is ask, and if she says 'No,' I'll back her up."

Makie nodded. It wasn't the answer she wanted, but it was clear she wasn't going to be able to appeal for another one. "I guess I have no right to expect more than that." She shrugged. "I'll have tomorrow If I keep on living."

"I've never heard that saying before," Keitaro said. "What do you mean by it?"

"Hmm? It's something my mother would say when I was a girl and things didn't go my way. I always interpreted it as meaning that as long as we're alive, we have options for the future. I was reminded of it when we had our um… difficulties on this trip. I can't change what Naru feels about me or what I did but shouldn't have done. But if I approach life that way, whatever bad things that do happen doesn't mean that my life is destroyed forever. I can try again, or change my goals."

"Interesting," Keitaro said. "I never formulated it that way, but it fits how I approached preparing for college despite failing three times. Maybe that's why I kept bouncing back, with the support of my friends."

"From what you and Nyamo have told me, you have an… erm… interesting group of friends," Makie said. She felt a sting of regret. Her choices most likely barred her from ever getting to know them, of becoming part of the group of friends. _Well, I have tomorrow…._

There was a commotion at the camp proper. Nyamo was holding the satellite phone and gesturing to Artyom.

"_Now_ what's going on?" Makie grumbled.

Keitaro sighed as he got to his feet. "Guess we better find out.

.

.

Sara got home a bit late—as she had been doing lately—shed her school uniform for jeans and a t-shirt and went to collect Naru and Hachi. The latter leapt all over her. Naru seemed a bit reserved. _Must have been a bad day at school with that girl that she was talking about_.

Naru didn't say much before they got to the rubble field that was once the annex. Then, while Sara threw the stick for Hachi, Naru sat on a rock next to where she stood.

"I thank you for changing out of your uniform before coming to walk Hachi with me," Naru began softly. Since I've gotten pregnant, I am pretty sensitive to cigarette smoke. I'd hate to have to start walking Hachi without your help."

_I thought the Febreze_ _covered that up_, Sara thought, alarmed to be caught out. Casually, she tried to sidestep. "Well, the trains are pretty bad…."

_You just take the streetcar_, Naru thought. _Similar lies to what Rika was telling her mother. _"Sara, I think you are putting me, and the rest of the residents here in a difficult situation,"

Sara stopped short, eliciting a stream of barking protests. So she threw it again. Then turned to face Naru. "Have I?" she asked warily. She reviewed her steps since she went to Naru's room. She couldn't think of anything.

"I think of you as a friend. But I also think of your stepmother as a friend." Naru sighed. "As a teacher, I see things that are warning signs when students do them. Haruka and I both see these signs with you. I don't see her questions and concerns as being unreasonable in this day and age."

Sara shrugged. "All Moms and Daughters fight, don't they? I just want her to cut me a little more slack."

"Well, how much freedom you want and how much you need is something you and your mother need to work out. I don't have any say in that matter. But being insulting, lying or being evasive… I don't see your mother as being wrong to worry."

Sara looked at the ground. Part of her wanted to tell Naru to mind her own damn business. But she also looked up to the older woman. If she chose to push Naru away, their relationship would be damaged. "I guess so," she mumbled. "I just feel like Mom's overreacting."

"That might be," Naru replied gently. "But if you hide things from her, she won't know what the proper reaction should be." She waited a moment. Time to ease in the question and hope it sounded like a deduction, not information from Ema. "You wouldn't be seeing a boy, would you?"

Her casual delivery was perfect. "H- how did you know?" Sara asked, thinking exactly as Naru hoped. "Yeah, I met a guy. We see each other before and after school. He lives over in Nerima, so school is the only place we can see each other. Nothing wrong with that!" She said the last a bit defensively.

"That depends on whether or not he's some kind of lech." Naru hesitated. "I don't know if your parents had a talk with you about-"

"Hey!" Sara objected. "I'm not planning on letting him see the panda birthmark, y'know?"

They both blushed.

"Anyway," Naru continued, "if you hide this and then your mother finds out, what do you think she will feel about your hiding it? Do you think she might wonder about what you're doing that you need to hide it?"

"I'm hiding it _because_ I'm afraid she'll draw the wrong conclusion!"

"Then don't give her the chance. Show her you're being careful, and show her you're not hiding anything. If she thinks she can trust you, you might find that she does start to trust you. But if she discovers you're hiding something, you can expect she'll think you can't be trusted."

"So…" Sara said, dubiously, "You think I should tell her?"

"Well, think of it this way. If you go on hiding it and resenting her concerns, things will probably keep building up until Haruka lays down the law for you. She won't be happy, you won't be happy, and we won't be happy being caught in the middle of your war."

Sara didn't respond, but Naru could see she was pondering.

_Well, I hope things go better from now on._

.

.

"Are you kidding?" Makie growled. "You want to pull out when I'm almost there?"

That clueless phrasing caused Keitaro and several of the men—missing their wives—to cough nervously. "Are you sure this is a real threat and not just a worry?" he asked.

"I don't want to give up," Nyamo sighed, "but Emori took the time to get a message out to us. He thinks it's dangerous, because the rebels are looking for a place with water to hole up. I guess he's the one hunting the rebels, so he'd be the first to know where they were running."

Artyom looked grim. "Makie, Keitaro. I think this is not something to gamble on. I was in Afghanistan in 1980s. I've seen what desperate men with guns do." _Unfortunately, some of those desperate men with guns were my comrades in arms_. "If discipline breaks down…" he looked at Makie and Nyamo, and remembered the actions of some soldiers and the KhAD agents in Darul Aman and Khair Khana… and their refusal to obey his orders. "We must get ready! We have two bolt action rifles and M-1. Not enough to defend with."

"But it's dangerous to drive in that damned rock patch of a desert at night!" Makie said, feeling unnerved at Artyom's tone as he stared at her. She knew little of the Soviet involvement in Afghanistan in the 1980s. But his look told her that whatever happened, it must have been terrible.

"Then we pack now and _ubiraysya otsyuda _at first light!" he exploded.

Makie wilted at the verbal assault. Nobody asked for a translation. His expression and tone told them that it was obscene and the situation was deadly serious.

Sighing, Artyom turned to Keitaro. "I do not want my wife and child to be widow and orphan. I do not want to be one to tell Naru that she is widowed mother! All the libraries in world not worth one of your lives!"

_Naru…_ The name brought Keitaro to his senses. He wanted to go home to her and the baby. "All right…" he said softly. "Let's get pack what we can and cache the rest. We can be ready to go for when it gets light.

"I hope so," Artyom replied, hoping he was keeping fear out of his voice.

.

.

**Author's Notes**

"Heading to her own classroom." As I understand it, in Japan, the teachers rotate between classrooms while the students stay in the room.

"Yebla." Another Russian profanity.

"Panda birthmark." In the manga, Sara wears a bathing suit in the hot springs to cover the panda shaped birthmark on her posterior.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen:** _You Have Tomorrow If You Keep On Living_

It had been a hard night's work, but long after midnight they finally had gotten the trucks loaded with the essentials, and the rest cached in hopes of returning to finish the job once the crisis was over. Now, they had to rest until there was enough light to see by. This section of the Desert of Death was filled with all sorts of rocks and sand dunes that could get a truck stuck or damaged if the driver couldn't see what was going on in front of him.

_If only Dr. Cha was able to reach us before dark!_ But that afternoon had been filled with sunspot interference that killed satellite phone reception. It had been a miracle that Nyamo had called him trying to find out where Emori was. _At least we have time to prepare._

Artyom swore to himself as he faced away from the embers of the recently extinguished fire and watched over the camp settling down. If he could have, he'd have left as soon as the trucks were loaded, but it was useless to wish for the impossible. For decades, he had tried to forget the two years he had spent conscripted in the former Soviet Union, most of that time spent in Afghanistan. Now, everybody was looking to him as the expert to keep them safe. _Safe!_ When all they had was two Lee Enfield bolt action rifles and an old M-1 Garand Rifle with maybe twenty rounds of ammo for each, and they only had those to scare off predators. _These are practically going to be worthless if it comes to a firefight,_ he thought.

And he couldn't even have a cigarette, because that would destroy the limited visibility he had in the dark.

The crunching of sand and rock told him someone was coming behind up him. "Is everything all right?" Keitaro's voice came softly out of the darkness.

"_Da_, come on up," he grunted. He looked at the faint illumination on his watch. 1:30 AM. "Will probably have light in four hours," he said as the younger man came up and sat next to him. "Best to get sleep until then."

"I wish I could," Keitaro said, gingerly holding the M-1. "But the thought that those maniacs could show up at any time, makes it hard. Do you think we'll get off all right?"

"I hope, yes. Based on the message we get, they have to drive through same _govno_ we do to get here. Unfortunately, so does Nyamo's man. So, if they move at first light, we probably get away. If they try to drive at night, they may break something."

"And if they don't break something?"

Artyom grimaced in the dark. "Then we pray they are not barbarians. But try to get Makie and Nyamo out of here first. Desperate men lose discipline. They might not act like soldiers."

Keitaro blanched as he realized what Artyom was worried about. "Well, I'm glad we have your expertise as a soldier to rely on. I mean, you were a sergeant?"

Artyom let out a long sigh. "Keitaro, in Soviet Union, a sergeant was not like a sergeant in American movies. We were draftees too. Maybe in Russian army now, it changes. But we chosen because of how we did in training, and they give us Sergeant Training course. So we know only a little more than the privates. The officers had to do things American sergeants do. So, no. I am not like John Wayne or Rambo. I do not have guerrilla warfare skills to defeat them if they come shooting."

"Oh." Keitaro's voice sounded a little deflated. "Still, you know some things, which is more than the rest of us do. I just hope I don't do something stupid that gets somebody hurt or killed."

_I think that about myself too, Keitaro_. "As long as none of us do stupid risks, we probably do okay."

.

.

.

It was about 0315 hours. The men would sleep for now. The officers and specialists wouldn't. Emori studied the map in his tent. This site the rebels were likely heading for was a hundred miles into the middle of the island, strewn with rocks and soft sand. It was a good way to get bogged down, get flat tires, or break axles. The good news was that the rebels were in the same situation. The bad news was they still had to catch up once the dawn came.

Halama entered the tent, yawning. As radioman, he'd be one of the specialists that needed to stay up as long as the captain did. "Sir," he mumbled, saluting belatedly. "Message from HQ." He handed the flimsy over to Emori.

BE ADVISED AIRCRAFT CANNOT FLY DURING NIGHT HOURS. WILL HAVE TWO F-4 AVAILABLE 0900. CH-47 WITH TWO PLATOONS ESTIMATED AVAILABLE 1100.

Emori sighed. That would give the rebels time to get there and dig in before an air strike could happen. "What time is first light estimated?"

"0525, sir." Kidd responded.

"Get the men up in an hour. I want to be loaded and ready to go before we get to first light. With the reflection off the cliffs, we might be able to get rolling early at low speed. Wake the cooks now and get ready." He turned to Halama. "What's the status on the radiotelephone jury-rig?"

"Not clear, sir. But I can work on it when we're on the move."

The radiotelephone was an obsolete concept. But—and it was seldom done—it could hypothetically let them connect with a telephone through a station with both a two way radio and a telephone directory. It wasn't something the military was particularly in favor of doing, as it potentially could allow for secured military translations to be picked up over the phone exchange.

_I wish the military had its own exchange,_ Emori thought. But Pararakelse had never really needed one before the failed coup.

And since it was going to require that connection between the two, effectively, the military would have to occupy the exchange, because if there were combat instructions to be issued, you didn't want a civilian handling it. This wasn't going to be a _forgot to tell the major_ cavalier operation. It was going to be a joint operation.

"Whether or not it works is going to depend on whether we get reception when we try," Halama added.

"Do your best," Emori said. He hoped this would work. "Do we know if the rebels have any tracking equipment?" Because that was another risk. Satellite phones could be traced when they were used. Excessive use would not only risk exposing Nyam and her team to being tracked, but it could potentially allow them to figure out where his men might be coming from.

"Well, sir," Halama said. "We don't think they have a communications vehicle that would allow them to passively track all electronic signals in the area. But if they have a command vehicle, they could actively track the satellite phone if they thought to look for it. Hopefully, we would pinpoint them first."

"Looks like hope and prayers are all we have left."

.

.

Naru slept fitfully. She looked at her alarm clock. 1:30 in the morning. She had been dreaming about Keitaro. In the dream he had been alone in the dark and frightened of something. _It was just a dream_, she told herself. Sighing, she lay flat on the futon and ran her hand across her stomach and abdomen. Was that the slightest hint of a baby bump? Unlikely, as she was only on her third month. But it reminded her she needed to take care of herself instead of worrying over a dream.

_Be safe, Keitaro_ she whispered in the darkness.

.

.

It was 0415, and Emori's troops were wakened on schedule. The cooks had gotten coffee and breakfast ready to travel, so they blearily listened to Emori's briefing. "All right, men. We're all tired. But we have a mission. We believe that the rebel survivors are heading to an oasis discovered by that archaeological dig a few years back. Unfortunately, the archaeologists are believed to be there at the moment, so we can't just lob artillery at them." The fact that human lives were at stake was the _only_ reason he hadn't called in the artillery. He knew how much archeology meant to Nyam, but her life was worth much more than whatever heritage was there of his people's heritage.

"We believe that the rebels will have no problems with harming or killing the civilians. And Major Anzara is known to be hostile to foreigners on our island, so I doubt he'll be inclined to stop whatever his men might want to do with the foreigners on that team. They are anywhere from one to two hours ahead of us out there. But I think we can steal a march on them. We're going to take it slow and travel before first light. If we do have a breakdown, get the vehicle off to the side to prevent slowing it down more. Get it back on the road as fast as you fucking can. The closer we can get to them before they get to the civilians might be a matter of saving lives. Now let's go!"

The men scrambled to get their supplies and get into the trucks for the trip.

.

.

Dawn finally broke, and the camp was swarming with activity. The crew was rushing to tie down the rest of the equipment that had to go along. The rest—painful as it might be to leave it behind and risk loss—was cached. Nobody wanted to fall into the clutches of Anzara, so the fear of what might happen led to haste.

Artyom was the rearguard for the operation. His truck would be the last to leave, to make sure nobody was accidentally overlooked. Unfortunately, everybody wanted to be out as soon as possible, which made for chaos. So, Keitaro, Makie and Nyamo wound up helping make sure the other crew members were accounted for before a truck was loaded. Ten men per truck, four trucks. No truck could leave until all passengers were accounted for.

The first truck away was off at 5:40am. The second was off at six. The third was just starting to roll at 6:20….

"Okay, take it slow, watch for the rocks," Makie called to the driver over the two way radio. Move to the left, the left, MOVE TO THE FUCKING LEFT!" There was a thud and a hissing sound as the truck rolled over a large edged rock, ruining the tire and immobilizing the truck.

"I SAID LEFT, YOU IDIOT!" Makie turned and gestured to Nyamo. "Dump the cargo in the fourth truck! This one isn't going anywhere until we change the tire!" Gritting her teeth, she thought _I have tomorrow if I keep on living! _That seemed less comforting under these conditions.

"Dammit!" Nyamo growled. "I don't think we're going to get twenty people into that last truck. Best we could do is fifteen!" No sense yelling at the driver. His face was ashen as he realized what he had done.

Keitaro sprinted over quickly assessing the situation. "Okay, let's not panic here. We can get the fourth truck emptied. Then we can get as many as will fit. The rest will get that tire fixed and get out as soon as we can!"

"Good call!" Artyom agreed. "But clear the third truck too. Lighter is better with those jacks."

That was twenty minutes wasted unloading the trucks and trying to head off the grabbing of dumped supplies that everyone inevitably saw as essential. It was 6:50AM when the fourth truck lumbered off, leaving Keitaro, Artyom, Nyamo and Makie with four of the local workers who volunteered to stay because they didn't have families waiting at home.

"Naru will be furious if she finds out I stayed behind," Keitaro said as he watched the last truck leave.

"So will Emori," Nyamo said softly.

"Probably we should not say to them we do this," Artyom muttered. It had been natural for the four of them to stay until the last, being in charge of the crew's wellbeing. But none of them wanted to die, either and as they looked at the truck, their choice seemed riskier than it had at the time.

"All right, let's see what we have to do," Keitaro sighed. They _did_ make sure they had the needed tools in working order before the truck left. The trick was to change the tire with the manpower they had.

"Rear right wheel set," Nyamo said, crawling out from under. "Inner tire looks like it's had it. The outer looks passable. I don't _see_ any obvious damage to the rim."

"Right, get the bottle jack and set up board so it doesn't sink into sand," Artyom said wearily. _Of course it's the damned inner tire_. That meant they had to remove the good tire to pull off the bad one. "Right! You four!" He pointed to the remaining crew. "You have experience with this. We will take rifles and watch for danger. Hopefully we leave before it gets here. If it doesn't… well I guess we can try to hide in ruins and hope the army gets here sooner." He grabbed one of the Lee-Enfields.

Nodding, Nyamo grabbed the second, leaving the M-1 for Keitaro. Makie looked embarrassed. She had been afraid of firearms and never learned how to use them. It was too late now to start. "I… guess I'll use the binoculars and look from up there." She gestured to a low ridge nearby.

"Good," Artyom replied. If danger, head for the excavation trench and stay low when heading for ruins. I have no idea of quality of rebel soldiers. If good, then more you expose, more likely you get seen… or shot."

_Shit,_ Keitaro thought, having third thoughts about staying behind. _Naru, I hope I don't make you a widow!_

He put his hands in his pockets and felt a bulky device. _Hey, wait a minute…_

.

.

The rebels continued to move forward. The plan was to lay low and hide out until the coast was clear. Before the coup attempt, he had seen some reports of the discovery. What interested him was reports of an oasis, and a large tortoise population that could serve for food. Combine that with ruins that could be used to hide from searchers, and they could potentially hide out until the search itself died down.

His radioman poked his head in from the back of the 6x6. "Sir, there's encrypted radio chatter behind us."

Major Anzara shrugged. "Yes, Emori's men. That isn't surprising. Not much we can do about it except to get hidden fast."

"Yes, but the curious thing is they seem to be talking to a satellite phone in front of us."

The major turned around and stared. "Do they have an operative there already?" It seemed unlikely but… "Right, signal one of the pickup trucks with us, and have them pull ahead of us to recon. We don't want to run into an ambush." He began to turn away, then stopped. "Oh, tell them to use single shot. We may need to preserve ammunition."

His radioman got busy and soon, a battered pickup—one they had "liberated" in Ectbana—peeled off from the convoy and increased speed.

.

.

The military convoy was making good speed now that the sun was up. Well, good was a relative term. But compared to the 10mph they had made before first light, they were on track for getting to the dig site by nine at the latest. More good news was that the schedule was pushed forward and 30 minutes from now the F-4s would be taking off. They were obsolete Vietnam war vintage aircraft, but they had two advantage over later models… first, they actually existed in their military, and second, since both remained in government control, the rebels didn't have any. So if they could spot the rebels, the Vulcan cannons could destroy the enemy trucks. Too bad they couldn't have deployed them in the actual coup, but that would have been grossly reckless in the city.

Halama poked his head through the tarp from the back of the truck, unaware that 30 miles ahead, his counterpart was doing the same thing. "Sir, HQ reports that we have connection with the telephone exchange. If we need to use it, we can as long as our radios can reach the communication grid.

"Well, let's not waste any time." He picked up the radio. "Alpha Mike India One dash One, Over."

There was a crackle. "Alpha Mike India One dash One, this is Alpha Base Team One at the Exchange. We Are Receiving you at four-five. We're ready if you are."

Four five was shorthand for four out of five, the strength of the signal received. Good conditions. "Roger." He gave them the satellite phone number.

"Will call. Remember wait for the chirp before speaking, and to say 'over' so the signalman knows to stop transmitting on your end and allow the other end a chance to speak."

_That __**is**_ _primitive,_ Emori thought.

There was a pause. Then the radio came back on. "Alpha Mike India One dash One, this is Alpha Base Team One. The number you asked us to call just called our emergency service. We are patching him through to you as you are the closest unit in the area that can respond.

"Ah, this is the archeology team digging in the Desert of Death. We were told that hostile troops are headed this way. Our vehicle has broken down and we are trying to get it moving again."

There was a pause. Then Emori heard, "_Sukin sin!_ Say 'Over' when you're done!"

"Ah right, Over."

Emori waited for the chirp. "This is Captain Laba. We are inbound to your position. Estimated time of arrival 0900. Two planes inbound 25 minutes. Over." Emori was glad the military had taken over the exchange. He'd hate for his end to go out in the clear.

"0900?" came the voice Emori recognized as the Japanese archaeologist named Urashima. "I can see a cloud of dust off in the distance through my binoculars. Sure you're not closer?"

"OVER!" yelled a man with a thick Russian accent.

Emori started to speak, but forced himself to wait for the chirp. "Urashima! Get your people out of here now! If your truck won't run, find shelter where you can! If you see aircraft coming your way, get hidden fast. They might not be able to distinguish friend from foe! We're increasing speed! Call that number again if you have more information! Out!" He switched the radio over to the command band. "All Units, advance, best possible speed!" He switched back over to the exchange.

"Tell Base One we need those Phantoms up right now! The rebels are in the civilians' visual range!"

.

.

Makie slid down the ridge and made her way over to where Keitaro and Artyom were crouched, keeping low like she saw in some movies. The effect looked something like a charging goose. It would have been comical if things weren't so serious.

"We have vehicles coming in!" she said breathlessly, sliding into the ditch.

"Yes, we can see the dust clouds," Keitaro said, gesturing to the ominously closer columns rising into the sky.

"Well, better get Nyamo here," Artyom said.

"No, not that dust cloud!" Makie snapped. "There's a pickup truck coming in over from the west. It looks like it's trying to stay behind the dunes."

"_Suka blyat!_" Artyom swore. "I shouldn't have split us up like that. Let's grab Nyamo and let the others know. "If we get separated, try to find a place to hide in the ruins!"

Nyamo, who had also seen the truck, was pressed up against the wall in an excavation trench, crouched down as low as possible, trying not to breathe. She had just seen the two men in the truck emerge, carrying automatic rifles, wearing olive green and knew with a sick feeling that the battered pickup truck was not part of the vehicle pool in the regular Army. _Oh, God… please let Emori get her soon! Let the rebels be careless and not see us!_

To her horror, she saw her friends running across the sand, calling her name. The rebels turned and pointed. She hated to give her position away, but she knew they were in greater danger than she was.

"Keitaro! Get down!"

Surprised, Keitaro stopped and looked around wildly, which was the worst thing he could have done. The rebels rushed forward, aiming.

"RUN!" Artyom bellowed, pointing to the ditch as a bullet whistled by, too close for comfort. He thanked God that they were only firing single shot, instead of a full burst.

Keitaro had never run so fast in his life. The others were right behind him. The cracking sound of rifle fire directed in his direction was terrifying. He could hear Makie screaming in fear as they ran. Then, just as they reached the edge, a small turtle chose to wander out, and he caught his foot on it, and stumbled forward.

Makie looked with horror as she saw him start to go down and, seeing one of the rebels aiming at him. _NO! _she mentally screamed, and instinctively gave him a shove. He fell into the ditch with a crash.

Recovering her balance, Makie braced herself to dive into the trench. _Just one more second and I'll be sa-_

The bullet caught her in the chest. She was vaguely surprised that there was no pain, just a terrible impact. She sensed she was falling backwards, falling, falling…. But she never felt herself hit the ground.

"MAKIE!" Nyamo screamed as she saw her friend's body land, a horrible red stain spreading across her chest.

Struck by grief and rage, Keitaro got to his feet, aimed his M-1 at the closest soldier and began squeezing the trigger repeatedly. The rifle butt kicked painfully into his shoulder as he squeezed off five rounds. He felt a sick feeling in his stomach as the lead soldier jerked once and fell. Belatedly, he heard Artyom firing a shot from his Lee-Enfield.

The second rebel, realizing he was outnumbered turned and, dropping his rifle, ran for the pickup, ignoring the sound of Keitaro and Artyom shooting, and the truck driving off. As soon as his back turned, Nyamo was scrambling out of the trench and rushing over to her friend with her first aid kit. "Makie! Makie!" she screamed, "Are you okay?"

No response. No movement. Not even from the rise and fall of her chest… her chest that was stained with blood and with a hole in her shirt that was close to her heart. "Makie…" she wailed, cradling the body of her friend in her arms. Feeling hands gently try to pull her away, she angrily flailed at them. "Leave me alone!" she sobbed. "Makie, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she moaned. _If I had done __**something**_ _different, she might not have been running towards me. I should've…_ it occurred to her that she had no idea what she should have done. Yell _Go back?_ Try to shoot at the rebels?

"Oi! What happened?" One of the men from their deuce and a half shouted, running towards them. He was carrying a Very flare pistol, probably the closest thing to a weapon he could find. "Oh shit…" he whispered, horrified.

.

.

The rebel convoy was still cruising along when he saw the pickup truck driving back towards them. It wasn't long before Anzara could see that there was only one occupant in the truck. "The hell?" Hold up, I want to find out what happened." As soon as the truck stopped, he leapt out and rushed over. "What happened? Report!"

"Armed men at the site, at least a squad," the rebel stammered out. They got my partner. But we must have killed five or six of them."

_That means they got two at best_, Anzara thought. "Men, get ready for battle as soon as we arrive!" he shouted. Make sure you have your ammo ready…" His voice trailed off as he realized that his men weren't listening. They were looking around wildly, then up. Then fingers shot up pointing to the sky. Anzara saw the rapidly growing shapes heading straight at him.

"Fuck!" he said, as he saw the flashing emerge from a pod underneath the lead F-4 Phantom.

Those were his final words as the 20 millimeter cannons began carving a swath through his troops.

.

.

After giving her some time, Artyom knelt next to Nyamo and placed his hand on her shoulder. Sobbing, she turned and clung to Artyom. Artyom gestured to the men who had stayed behind that they should cover Makie's body with the tarp.

Keitaro winced as he heard what sounded like heavy gunfire, followed by explosions in the distance. Where the column of dust had been, there was now black smoke and flashes of fire among them. Moments later there was a boom as two low flying jet aircraft tore past, kicking up sand everywhere. Then they looped up and back the way they came. Then more gunfire and more explosions. A third pass, and then they began circling over that site in the distance.

He looked over to tarp covering Makie's body, _If she hadn't stopped to push me, _he thought, _she would have been safe and that would have been me lying dead on the ground… Naru would be all alone. And, either way, for what? Some damned documents? And I killed a man for what?_ He looked at his hands. _I'm a murderer, and responsible for Makie's death, and whatever we discover won't be worth who we lost!_

Keitaro looked up, tears running down his face. "Makie… why did it have to be her?"

Artyom could hear the pain and see the look of guilt and grief on his young friend's face, and gestured for him to join them. Hesitantly, Keitaro complied and sat next to them, while the other crew members used the satellite phone to call the exchange.

"I imagine now," he said softly, "both of you think of everything that you wish you had done different and blame yourself for not doing it. But in war, you do what you can because you don't have time to think first. Then, when it's over, you think that your friend should have lived, even if you died. But that's not true."

"How would you know how I'm feeling?" Keitaro asked bitterly… although it was exactly what he was feeling. "Sorry. I- I just…" his voice trailed off.

Artyom sighed. "I have seen it before. War is a terrible thing," he said softly. "I thought I would be used to it now, after seeing friends die, seeing men I killed. But I was wrong. It still affects me. Keitaro, Nyamo… don't let survivor's guilt eat you away. It is very hard to escape from once you let start."

Nyamo stirred. "But if I had used my gun, or if I had told you to go back-"

Artyom shook his head. "And if I had not had us separate to watch out for rebels, we might have all been together. But then, we might have all been in spot where we did not see them until too late. We can't know what might have been, Nyamo. Neither of you were trained soldiers."

Keitaro looked at his hands. "Even though that man killed Makie, I can't help but think I'm a murderer for killing him."

Artyom shook his head. "You didn't kill him. That was some of the worst shooting I have ever seen. I was the one who stopped him."

"Oh?" Keitaro asked. Part of him felt useless as not having done anything. But it also felt like a bit of a relief to know he hadn't taken a life.

Puzzled, Nyamo looked at him and started to speak. Artyom shook his head.

"Hey boss!" One of the laborers came over with the phone. "The military guy wants to talk to you."

Keitaro, seeing Nyamo still clinging to Artyom, _they're like father and daughter_ he thought, he got up. "I'll take it."

After he left, Nyamo looked at Artyom. "But you didn't shoot that soldier. He fell before you got your shot off."

Artyom put his fingers to his lips. "The first time I took a life in Afghanistan, I had hard time getting over it. I think he would too. So if lie saves him from feeling guilt, I'll tell it."

.

.

Naru got up having no idea what had happened in Pararakelse. She was feeling a little apprehensive. If Rika was inclined to create a scene over yesterday's home visit, it would probably happen at the school. And if her talk with Sara had a bad aftermath, that might be awkward as well. But at least the morning sickness was not as intense as some mornings. So perhaps she would face those things better.

She got dressed, examining herself for signs of her pregnancy. Was that the beginning of a 'baby bump' she saw? Or was it her imagination? Either way, she placed her hands on the spot that might have been the bump. "Mommy loves you," she whispered, "and Daddy will be home soon."

Suddenly, Hachi sprang at the door, barking furiously.

"Shut up, dummy! It's me!" Sara's voice came in response. The door slid open a fraction. "Is it okay if I come in, Naru?"

"Sure, come ahead!" Naru said, finishing buttoning her blouse.

Sara slowly slid the door open, putting her leg in the opening to block Hachi from doing a runner. "Sit, dammit!" Getting inside and keeping the dog in as well was tricky, but she managed it. "How are you feeling this morning?"

Hachi obediently sat but began making wurfing noises in protest.

"Better than some," Naru replied with a gentle smile. "And how about you?"

"Well, I slept great, once I slept. Mom and I talked last night."

_Uh oh_. "I must have slept through that," Naru said. She immediately cringed at her tactlessness.

"Huh? Oh, no, we weren't screaming at each other, though a couple of times we raised our voices." She looked embarrassed. "I told her about Kokeru. She was starting to get upset, but then I told her why I was afraid of telling her and that you suggested that I do come forward, and she actually listened to me." Sara shrugged. "I dunno if you would have told her or not, but the fact that I came forward and told her meant something to her."

"Oh? So how did it end up?"

"Better than I feared, not as good as I hoped. She wants to meet this Kokeru before she passes a final judgment on my dating, and she doesn't want a relationship to interfere with studying. Mayne I should have waited for Dad to get home to come clean."

"Maybe," Naru said. "But I know some friends whose fathers reacted more strongly than the mothers, so maybe not."

"Anyway," Sara said. "At least we're not fighting this morning, so… thanks, I guess for talking to me."

Naru smiled, remembering how close Sara was to Haruka when the girl was younger. _I hope they can have that again_. "I'm glad. Now, shall we give this little furball a chance to run around?"

Going downstairs, they bumped into Motoko, who had just been getting ready to go up. "Naru, you had better come with me," she said softly.

"What is it?" Naru asked, warily, as she handed the leash to Sara.

"I'm not sure yet. But it's about Pararakelse," Motoko replied cautiously.

In the kitchen, Su, Shinobu and Kanako were huddled around Kanako's laptop. They looked up at Naru, worry on their faces.

Motoko put her arm around Naru. "Naru…" she asked gently, "have you taken your Sertraline yet this morning?" Ordinarily she hated the thought of 'mind drugs,' but in this case….

"Um, yes…" Naru said, puzzled. "Why?"

"You had better sit down…." Motoko tried to think of how to handle this. "There was a news report a little while ago. The rebels in Pararakelse were destroyed."

"I'm sensing a 'but' coming here," Naru said tensing. The look on the other's faces told her this was going to be bad. _Keep calm, don't overreact…._

"Apparently there was some sort of firefight with the rebels in the desert, near the dig site." Motoko said, rushing to get it out before she lost her nerve. "There was a fatality, one of the Japanese crew… Naru? Are you-"

Naru had gone pale. "W-who?" she rasped, clutching Motoko's blouse. "Who- Keitaro!?" That last part came as a shriek of dread. "I- I have to go to get him! He needs to be buried here! I have…" She jumped up, knocking the table and spilling everything on it. "I have to!" she sobbed.

Suddenly her eyes rolled up inside of her head and she slumped back in her chair, fainting.

.

.

The Chinook helicopter touched down around 11AM, kicking up sand. Most of the soldiers had been dropped at the site of the destroyed rebel convoy. But a squad of soldiers, including a medic, had arrived to check on the civilians. They reverently put Makie's body into a body bag and carried her on board.

Keitaro was too drained to do much but collapse into the seat he was shown to. He wanted to call Naru, but he was told that the satellite phone signal would cause interference with the instruments. As the chopper lifted off, it was clear that he couldn't have communicated over the racket anyway. So he slumped down, wanting the flight to be over before the news got out and Naru drew the wrong conclusions.

Artyom sat, reflecting on the events. Despite what he warned Keitaro and Naru about, he was also struggling with survivor's guilt, thinking about what he could have done differently. He knew the answer was _nothing_. He had followed what he remembered of his training when he was drafted at 18, but the lack of trained men meant there were plenty of places where they couldn't see each other or all the approaches. _We were so busy watching the big column that we forgot about them splitting up_. He desperately wanted to see Svetlana again and forget about the horror.

Nyamo sat next to where the soldiers had placed Makie's body, a rosary in her hand, reciting the Pararakelsan prayers she had been taught as a child. "…Maria tabu, na tina ni Kalou, Ni masulaki keimami edaidai, na tamata ivalavalaca. Ni masulaki keimami tale ga e na keimami vakarau mate. Ameni."

"Goodbye Makie," she whispered. "You were a good friend… I wish you had been able to be a friend of Naru so we could have all been friends together. Please find peace now."

She began the next prayer. "Me vinaka na bula Maria, o ni sa lomani vakalevu; Sa tiko vata kei kemuni o koya na Turaga. Kemuni sa kalougata mai vei ira na yalewa kece; Sa kalougata tale ga o Jisu na lewe ni ketemuni…."

.

.

Emori watched the helicopter depart, and he thanked God that Nyamo had not been the one to die. He wished he could have went with her. But he had been assigned the task of looking for survivors. _I thought I lost her_. Now he never wanted to be parted from her. _When she's ready, I'll have to ask her if she feels the same._

_._

_._

Naru was vaguely aware of a wet cloth covering her eyes, and she was lying on a futon. She could hear voices drifting in from the background.

"…you didn't have to tell her this, right away!" Mutsumi was saying in her 'deeply intense' voice.

"What was I supposed to do," Motoko's voice came back defensively. "Let her find out when she went to school?"

"You got her into a state over nothing though! He wasn't the one who died. She could have miscarried because of the shock! What were you thinking?"

"I- I'm sorry." Motoko's voice sounded deeply ashamed. "Maybe I should have looked for you first. I- I had thought it was a good chance it _was…_ Naru, I'm so sorry!" The last was spoken as if she was speaking to someone unconscious.

Trying to sort out the emotional whirlwind, Naru pulled the cloth off of her eyes, and raised her head.

There was a chorus of "NARU!" and a stampede as the others knelt around her. "Are you all right?" Mutsumi asked earnestly.

"I don't know," she murmured, trying to sit up. "How is Keitaro and how is the baby?"

"They're both okay!" Shinobu blurted out.

"Keitaro called an hour ago to let us know he was all right," Kanako chimed in, "and we had an ambulance here. But the doctor said you would be okay and there was no sense in bringing you in."

Naru looked to Mutsumi, who gave a nod and a smile. So Naru took Motoko's hand. "Then don't worry, Motoko. I forgive you," she said gently. The clasp turned into a death grip. "_DON'T_ run away again!" She looked at the others. "Now get me my phone! I need to call my husband!"

.

.

**Author's Notes**

There's one more chapter to go in this story. I thought about making it part of this one, but decided I needed to address the transition back to Japana little more than an in-chapter epilogue would allow.

"they give us Sergeant Training course." This was taken from Tom Clancy's _Red Storm Rising_. No idea if it's accurate or not. I wanted to avoid a "Mary Sue" situation in this fanfiction. This is a dangerous situation they're in, and they know they can't win a battle against trained soldiers. In fact, it would be suicide.

"1:30 in the morning." Remember that Pararakelse is one day ahead of Japan, but time wise is only two hours ahead. So, 1:30am in Tokyo is 3:30am the next day in Pararakelse.

The scene with Naru might seem like an afterthought, but I originally wrote it to be interspersed with Keitaro's story. But in plotting it out, I thought that the action would all be over before the daily routine of Hinata House started. I decided that vague reports of a Japanese citizen killed would be the first thing reported in Japan. So, I decided to do it this way to show how much Keitaro did mean to Naru (in case there was any doubt).

The prayer Nyamo is praying is the last half of the Hail Mary, and then the first half, in Fijian which I use as a stand in for Pararakelsan.


	19. Chapter 19

**Epilogue:** _Unmasking the Pain_

Keitaro and the rest of the crew were held over for debriefing for a couple of days before being allowed to depart. While they weren't confined to their homes, they were expected to stay in Port Oxley. Keitaro spent much of it working on the paperwork handing over the dig to Artyom.

Naru found it a difficult wait. Rika Sasaki's parents had withdrawn her from Juban, and the other teachers looked at her askance for rocking the boat. Haruna had shrugged when Naru mentioned it. _I did warn you_, she said. _It may take you years to get back to normal in their eyes._

She called Keitaro every day and he was always happy to talk. But Naru noticed that she always initiated the calls. He never did. That was odd. Sometimes, his voice trailed off as if he had lost his train of thought. _I'll take care of whatever needs he has… _she told herself, hoping that the discomforts of pregnancy didn't make that difficult.

Flight 444 from Pararakelse touched down in Narita a few days after that. The girls waited anxiously at the gate, while Naru stood with Mutsumi on the tarmac. With them stood an aging man and a woman in her mid-forties, both looking overwhelmed with grief. Behind them was a hearse and a simple car. _Those must be the Saitos_, Naru thought. Naru didn't really know how to react with the news of Makie's death. Sorrow for the death of a human being, relief (she was ashamed of that) of Keitaro not being stalked anymore), hurt over how their marriage had nearly failed, gratitude that she had saved Keitaro's life. So, she turned to the couple. "_O-kuyami mōshiagemasu. Go-shūshō-sama desu_" (_I am sorry for your loss. You must be grieving terribly_), she said bowing. Whatever her own feelings for Makie might have been, it was clear that to them, she was a beloved daughter.

The older man nodded, but kept his face impassive… except for the tear that slid down his cheek. The woman returned the bow. "T- thank you," she said hoarsely. "Did you know my daughter?"

_How do I answer that? _Naru wondered. "She worked with my husband on the archaeological dig. I am his wife." _Idiot! That logically follows from the first!_

Mrs. Saito nodded. "Thank you for your kindness." _Especially with how much you must have been hurt by my daughter_. She wanted to bring it up, but it would be grossly inappropriate at this time for either of them. So they bowed to each other again and turned back to face the plane.

Shortly thereafter, the door on the side of the boarding ramp opened and Keitaro came down the stairs. Directed by the ground crew, he came over to where the others stood. Naru was shocked by the look of weariness and grief in his expression. He looked aged. As it would be inappropriate to show physical affection at this moment, Naru just put her arm around him and gave a reassuring smile.

The cargo hatch of the airliner was opened and the crew carried the coffin to the hearse, where the morticians took over. Everyone bowed to the Saitos and gave their condolences, watching as they drove off.

Only then was it appropriate for Keitaro to embrace his wife. As they held each other, Naru could sense that it wasn't a romantic or a "perverted kappa" embrace. It was an embrace of needing to be _with_ her, to draw strength from her. She couldn't imagine the horror he had gone through, and only hoped she could support him in the way he had supported her. Maybe that trauma was why he didn't naughtily grope her the way he used to.

Entering the airport, they were greeted by the rest of the girls. They swarmed him at first, but it was soon clear that Keitaro was different. Even the perpetually clueless Su and the perpetually inappropriate Kitsune could pick up on his dazed, haunted expression. He responded to their questions in a warm manner, but his smiles never quite reached his eyes. It seemed to Motoko that he was wearing a mask that kept them from seeing the real him.

_How strange_, Motoko thought, _that the life and death of a woman we never met would have such a strong impact on us_. As they headed for the parking garage, Motoko found herself walking next to Kitsune. "Do you think he'll be all right?" she asked worriedly.

Kitsune gave a cheery smile. "I think he just needs some time in the sack with Naru," she whispered, smirking at Motoko's blush.

.

.

But apparently that _wasn't_ all he needed. While those in the adjoining rooms that night were glad that the manager's rooms had been soundproofed, Keitaro was still in a melancholy mood the next day. He didn't come out of his room except for meals. He didn't initiate conversations, though he would respond in a friendly manner when engaged. Then he would excuse himself when he was finished. Naru spent time with him, only coming out when she said he "needed space." But there were lines of stress and worry on her face.

It worried Shinobu enough that she cornered Mutsumi in the supply closet of the tea room. "Do you think Keitaro is acting… um… strangely?" she asked shyly.

"Strangely?" Mutsumi repeated "_Ara, _I'm not trained in psychiatry, but I would think that reactions like this after trauma are to be expected." She paused for a moment. "But, if you were to ask me whether I was _worried_ about him, I would say 'yes.'"

"M- maybe he could borrow some of Naru's erm… medicine?"

Mutsumi shook her head. "I don't think that would be wise. It might be that Keitaro's adjustment is one that needs to be treated by counseling, not medicine. It might be that this would be the wrong medicine to treat him with. And I suppose it is possible that a psychiatrist would say he just needs time. I just don't know. My main interest in my studies was learning about OB/GYN. Lately I find myself wishing I had learned more about this."

Naru entered the tea room, looking a bit downcast and took a seat at a table. So, Mutsumi and Shinobu emerged from the storage room.

"He needs space again?" Kitsune asked, coming down the stairs.

"Well… not exactly…" Naru said, her lip quivering a little.

"Hey, Naru… what's wrong?" Kitsune asked, becoming more serious.

"Umm, well I asked him if he wanted to go with me to my counseling appointment tomorrow."

"Uh huh…?" Kitsune encouraged.

"And he asked what I was trying to imply." She buried her face in her hands. "I get it that a friend of his was killed. I get that I can't imagine what it would be like for him to go through that, to see someone he knew killed. I know I can't rush him in healing. But he's really defensive and I don't know what might irritate him. I guess this must have been what it was like for him living with me before." She looked up. "I find myself wondering if I should take an extra Sertraline to deal with him."

"No!" Mutsumi interjected. "Don't ever self-medicate. Ask your psychiatrist before changing your dosage." Sighing, she sat next to Naru. "I know this is hard on you. But we're with you. Keitaro needs you, but that need's hard on you right now. So let us help you while you help him."

.

.

.

It got worse. Naru ended up having to take a leave of absence from teaching, because he would spend most of the day holding onto Hachi and staring out the window. A couple of days later Tokyo University called, asking if Keitaro might want to give a few lectures on his experiences in the upcoming months. Keitaro had given them a blunt, "I'll think about it," before hanging up. When a surprised Naru asked him why, he just stared at his hands and grunted, "I need some space right now." He whirled around and walked out of the dorms.

Stunned for a moment, Naru stood there in shock. Then, ran after him, hoping that she wasn't making a mistake. Worried for both of them, Shinobu followed.

She found them behind Hinata House near the destroyed annex. Keitaro, looking cold, with his arms folded. Naru, pleading with him. She didn't hide. But she didn't intrude either. She just waited in case either of them needed her. Naru saw her, but did not wave her away. In fact, she thought Naru looked a little relieved to not be alone.

"…Keitaro," Naru was saying, "I _know_ I can't possibly understand what you went through, and I know you're not going to just go back to the way things were. But archeology is your life. I just don't understand why you're just throwing it aside now. I- I want to support you, but I don't know how when I don't understand why."

"That's right, you don't!" Keitaro snapped, pointing his finger at her.

Naru wilted. "I- I'm sorry." She turned away, shoulders shaking, trying not to let him see or hear her crying, so he wouldn't think she was being manipulative.

_What the hell am I doing? Do I want to lose her again? _Keitaro immediately felt ashamed and ran after her. "Naru, wait! No, I'm the one who should be apologizing to you, Naru" he said gently, holding her. "It's just… trying to express myself is so hard right now when I'm not sure myself. I dunno, maybe this is how you felt before you found out that you were pregnant?"

"Maybe?" Naru embraced him back. "I love you Keitaro, and I do want to be strong for you like you were strong for me. Just, please be patient with me while I learn how." She winced a bit. "Sorry, I think I need to sit down."

"Morning sickness?" Keitaro asked with concern, helping her to a seat on a rock.

"No, my feet are sore," Naru replied.

The two of them sat in silence for awhile, Keitaro rubbing her feet. Then he spoke. "You're right that archeology is my passion. But lately, I just can't even try to throw myself into it as a distraction. Every time I read a book or an article, I think of M- erm, Saito getting killed to push me to safety. I just don't know if I can ever think of archeology again without grieving. Maybe I need to do something else."

"I don't know what to say," Naru said. "If you really think that's for the best, I'll try to be a supportive wife. But will you be happy without your passion?"

"Um, Keitaro," Shinobu said, knowing she was a fool for intruding in their private conversation. "Maybe there is a different way you can think about this?"

Keitaro looked up, slightly annoyed. But he kept himself calm and put on his pleasant mask for her. "Oh? What is that?" The expression was warm, but the eyes were not.

"Well," Shinobu said, flustered. "At Todai, I'm part of the foreign literature club. We read classic novels there, but that's not important. Anyway, there was a similar scene in a book we recently finished. In it, after a final battle is over a character says he will never smoke again because a friend of his was killed in battle and remembering it would be too sad."

Naru sweatdropped, hoping Keitaro wouldn't lose his temper. "So, how was it resolved?" she asked, hoping to keep Shinobu from diversions.

"Well, one of the main characters in the book tells him to keep smoking, and remember the good times he shared with his friend when he did so. Umm, I'm not saying you should smoke, I mean."

"I think I get it," Keitaro said, smiling in spite of himself. "There were good times sometimes," he said. "But, how can I when…?" He looked at Naru helplessly.

"I think I understand you, Keitaro" said Naru. "You're worried that I'll be jealous or upset if you do that, because I was before?"

"Yes. Upset. I was pretty naive in not realizing that she _was_ chasing me. I know how much it upset you though. I don't want you to be hurt on my account. So, isn't it unfaithful to you for me to…?" his voice trailed off, as he ran out of words to express himself.

"Keitaro," Naru said. "I am grateful you're thinking about me, but don't feel guilty. I was upset with her before because I didn't know how you really felt about me. But once I learned, I felt like I could trust you not to choose her over me." She decided not to mention her worries that _any_ man would find it hard to resist a woman who threw herself at them. That was a moot point now. "I trust you that those times you might remember were not unfaithful to me. And besides, even though she upset me, I can't deny that you're here now because of her. I guess that's something I owe her but can never repay. So, yes, remember the good times with her. Grieve over her death as much as you need to. I'll try to be strong for you when you need me to be."

Keitaro nodded, suddenly unable to speak as he felt tears rolling down his face.

Naru, seeing this, whispered, "come here," and gently took him into her arms, resting his head on her breasts and cradled him as he wept. _He thought he couldn't grieve because of me?_ she thought. "There, there…" she said instinctively, stroking his hair while she held him.

Feeling awkward, Shinobu hesitantly slipped away. Naru saw her, and nodded. _I think we'll be okay_ she mouthed.

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It would be a mistake to think that Keitaro was back to normal after that. Of course he wasn't. But while it was a small step, Shinobu's interruption had been a catalyst in removing what was holding Keitaro back from admitting he was grieving. So, when he joined them for the evening meal, he looked sad, but it was clear to the others that they were seeing the real Keitaro, not a mask that he wore for their sakes.

Things never went back to normal—because the nature of Hinata House defied normal. But Keitaro did slowly begin to heal again. The tragedy left an indelible mark on him and, by that fact, on them too. But in time, he made his peace with it. He moved forward, not by forgetting, but by accepting it. Whenever he felt melancholy, he reminded himself of something Makie had said.

_I Have Tomorrow if I Keep on Living_.

**The End**

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**Author's Notes**

My second story comes to an end. I am pondering a third story in the series tentatively called _Life Moves Forward_, which takes place a month after the epilogue. Whether or not I should probably depends on whether the readers enjoyed or endured the story.

I'll be the first to admit that _Barriers_ wasn't as good as _Forever and a Day_. That one I had finished before I considered posting it to . This one was a work in progress where I had a few ideas that I hoped to use, but not a clear path as I started. The basic premise of Naru at home and Keitaro on Pararakelse was there from the beginning. The coup attempt was originally going to be a revolution. Foreigners were to be expelled, but Keitaro's team was in the desert and didn't know. So they would have to flee the military and escape to the coast. I decided to simplify that.

Makie was a character which I saw could go in one of two ways. Either the "ojosama" bitch who deserved the audience's hate or someone who was a decent but confused girl who fell in love with someone she couldn't have. Whether or not I succeeded or failed (you'll have to decide), I was trying for the second approach. The decision for her to die came about midway through the writing.

So, I hope you liked it—or at least didn't find it disappointing. Thanks for reading and I hope I'll have some more to write in a third story soon.


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